Company Visits

PASAR and Philpos Company Visit: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practices

By Gino C. Allerite

The Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation (PASAR) - *the only copper smelter and refinery in the Philippines* has been in the mining industry for about 25 years in the country. With the span of its existence in Isabel Leyte, it has been a major contributor to the economic development of the municipality and the province *of Leyte *through the generation of employment opportunities and tax provisions in the locality. In the perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), however, I believe that PASAR could have done better to improve the social and environmental sectors of Isabel and its constituents given the favorable financial performance of the company.

In our company visit with PASAR, we were informed that the company has their own Corporate Social Responsibility division established since 2004. The division has its mission and vision geared towards community development and environmental protection through several activities sponsored by the company along with other trade partners – PhilPos, Gawad Kalinga, and other non-government organizations and private institutions. Based on the information given at the visit, I believe that PASAR officials did not fully grasp the concept of CSR as part of the management system throughout an organization as oppose to a separate division having their own set of goals and respective activities.

The weakness I have identified in the company’s CSR in particular, is its trade partnerships with other institutions. I strongly believe that the company’s financial resources could be sourced enough to fund CSR activities without financial assistance from other partners. Given the enormous size of the corporation, I was expecting that the company could have done larger activities for their CSR practices. Moreover, I have observed during the lecture that their CSR practices focus more on...