Beer firm pledges P2 M yearly for fallen soldiers' children

MANILA, Philippines - Asia Brewery Inc. (ABI) has forged an agreement with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to donate P2 million each year to the AFP’s Help Educate and Rear Orphans (HERO) foundation, which helps send deserving children of soldiers killed or maimed in the line of duty.

With the agreement, signed March 26, 1,250 children of fallen soldiers can now go to school and finish college within five years.

“The joint undertaking is also a way to commemorate and honor the sacrifices made by our fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives in the preservation of peace. This comes very timely as the country will celebrate the 70th ‘Araw ng Kagitingan’ or Day of Valor on… Monday,” AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said.

Among the signatories of the agreement are HERO chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala, HERO president Antonio Aquino, ABI chief operations officer Michael Tan, and ABI vice president for marketing Hubert Tan.

AFP chief of staff Lt. Gen. Jessie Dellosa, represented by deputy chief of staff Maj. Gen. Gregorio Macapagal, served as a witness.

“It is part of our program in the AFP to ensure the well-being of our members’ dependents especially those who were left by our troops who died in the line of their duty. We will continuously exhaust all our efforts to help and assist the families of our troops as our responsibilities go beyond protecting our country, but also ensuring that the people are able to live secure, and peaceful lives,” Dellosa said.