Sharing the blessings of a good year

12/22/2009

TVIRD employees host Christmas parties for kids in host, impact communities

(“How happy is the moment, this heavenly place
What we only see are glowing faces
Blessed and blessed are people to whom we are singing
Songs to be remembered, in all Christmases we will be happy!”)

Three-year old Divine Magsayo woke up earlier than usual that day. Most children in Kilometer 8 wake up late, particularly when the cool December breeze sweeps into this farming community near Canatuan. Canatuan is a mountain village hosting the Copper-Zinc mining operations of TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD) whose employees, little Divine heard days before, are coming to give Christmas gifts to children living in communities within and around the mine facility. This explains why Divine stirred from bed early.

The party his team hosted in Kilometer 8 “was my happiest Christmas in Canatuan,” says TVIRD Canatuan Mobile and Electrical Department Superintendent Fred Gonzaga (above right). Below, children from the villages of Paduan and Pigsolobukan enjoy the fun and games brought to them by employees of the Maintenance and Mobile departments.

The gift-giving activity is part of TVIRD’s Christmas program, dubbed “Pasko sa Minahan, Iangat ang Kabuhayan” [Christmas at the Mine, Uplift (People’s) Lives], which seeks to share the benefits of good business with TVIRD employees, many of whom are residents of Canatuan, as well as members of the company’s host and adjacent communities. Apart from the traditional Christmas party for employees, TVIRD allocated funds for gifts to neighboring communities and asked each department in the company’s Canatuan operations to “adopt” a neighboring community where department employees will host parties and distribute the gifts.

One such employee, TVIRD Canatuan Mobile and Electrical Department Superintendent Fred Gonzaga, says the experience “was my happiest Christmas in Canatuan.” He led personnel from his department along with those from the company’s Community Relations and Development Office (CReDO) in distributing toys and food to children in Kilometer 8. Gonzaga, along with CReDO’s Julma Villanueva, also initiated children’s games, where winners won exciting prizes. Fred was visibly elated seeing the kids having fun. Most of all, he enjoyed the company of his newfound friends.

“Ang pinaskohan nga tarak-tarak, nindot! Gusto kaayo nako! Karon pa ko nakadawat ug pinaskohan! (The toy truck that I received is nice! I like it! This is the first time that I received a Christmas gift!),” Divine declares.

In left photo, 3 year-old Divine Magsayo (foreground) leads a dance number in the Kilometer 8 Christmas party. At right, TVIRD Canatuan Acting GM Ely Valmores talks about the company’s tradition of sharing its blessings to neighbors, who have so graciously hosted and supported TVIRD’s mining operations.

In Barangay Santa Maria, host to TVIRD’s port and warehouse facility, it was TVIRD Canatuan Assay Laboratory and Concentrate Management Department Manager Gerry Gamelo who led the gift-giving charge alongside Jollibee, the most popular mascot in these islands, who entertained the children with his antics and dance moves. Although most residents in Santa Maria are Muslims, they warmly received the Christian gift-giving tradition brought to them by TVIRD employees.

Jehada Sical, 6, was awestruck by Jollibee. “Mao pa to ang unang higayon nga nakita namo ang mascot. Nalipay jud mi kaayo nga nakita siya. Wa mi magdahom nga makakita mi ug tinuod nga mascot sa Jollibee! (It was our first time to see a real mascot. We are really happy we met him. We never thought we will be able to see the Jollibee mascot here!)”

For parents and children in the villages of Pigsolobukan and Paduan Ridge, the gift-giving activity was truly an event to remember. Wilma Manulat and Visitacion Pantalita, whose respective husbands Ricardo and Pilarito work at TVIRD’s Maintenance and Mobile departments, respectively, assisted CReDO personnel in the wrapping of gifts for children in these villages. “The activity gave us a sense of belonging to a family – the TVIRD family – that cares for its members.”

Above, Jollibee, the Philippines’ favorite mascot, gets mobbed by Christian and Muslim children in Santa Maria, a village in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte that hosts TVIRD’s warehouse and port facilities. Below, Jollibee poses with TVIRD personnel, led by TVIRD Canatuan Assay Laboratory and Concentrate Management Department Manager Gerry Gamelo (in green, beside the mascot).

Children from the villages of Mambong, M. Francisco, and Paduan, as well as from Tibangao Elementary School, Siay Integrated School, Pisawak Elementary School, Kilalaban Elementary School, and Santa Maria Elementary School also received gifts from TVIRD employees.

CReDO’s Noelle Nazareno says the gift-giving activity this year was expanded to include the TVIRD’s other impact barangays. “Last year, the activity was limited only to Kilometer 8 and Mambong,” she adds.

In his Christmas message, TVIRD Canatuan Acting General Manager Heliodoro Valmores says “Christmas is a time for loving, for sharing and for reconciliation. Jesus has led the way, we have to follow. This is the reason why it has become the tradition of the company to share its blessings to our host community, and now the adjacent barangays, of the mine site.”

TVIRD Vice President for Philippine Operations Yulo Perez takes time out of his busy schedule to be with kids from Agolo. Below, he joins them in a tug o’ war.

Yulo Perez, TVIRD Vice President for Philippine Operations, asked employees to continue in 2010 all the positive things they’ve done for the company and the community in 2009. “Your dedication, hard work and teamwork have helped us attain our goals and achieve a very good safety and production performance. Let us continue all these so that we will be able to overcome all the challenges we anticipate in 2010.”

Visitacion believes that TVIRD will prevail over these challenges because the company, as in the past, will find strength from the support it enjoys, Christmas or not, from employees and residents of communities surrounding its operations. (Lullie Micabalo)