MANILA, Philippines — SM Supermalls received seven awards from the Public Relation Society of the Philippines during the 47th Anvil Awards Night held recently in Ortigas, Mandaluyong City. These included three Awards of Excellence for SM Cares’ Program on Disability Affairs, There’s Life After 60 at SM and Rizal @ 150 at SM.; as well as four Awards of Merit for SM City North Edsa Summer Campaign, Green Film Festival and SM Global Pinoy Program for Education/Literacy and Entrepreneneurship/Job Generation categories.

This annual program of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines is called the Oscars of local PR practices, and the much-coveted Anvil is only given to local PR practices as it recognizes outstanding programs and tools that pass the standards set by this year’s Board of Jurors.

The Awards of Excellence were given to two SM Cares programs by its Disability Affairs and Senior Citizen’s committees, respectively. We Choose to Make a Difference aims to create a friendlier, safer, and more comfortable environment for persons with disabilities in its supermalls through the installation of world-class PWD facilities, training programs for tenants and employees, and events like Photography with a Difference.

There’s Life After 60 at SM, on the other hand, designates the 2nd Tuesday of each month as the ‘Seniors Day at the Mall’ where senior citizens living near the 40 SM Supermalls come together, learn together, share talents together and bond together. Activities include ‘Oldies but Techies’ a computer literacy seminar; ‘Elderpreneur’ where they learn fundamentals of starting a business; and ‘Young at Heart,’ which offers talks on how to lead a healthy lifestyle as well as medical consultations. Seniors Day participants also have fun cooking and ballroom dancing.

An Award of Excellence was also given to Rizal @ 150 at SM , which gave a whole new generation of Filipinos a glimpse of the life, the works, and the greatness of our National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal. Rizal was celebrated as a global hero at the My City, My SM launch and exhibit in Calamba as well as film showings of the restored 1961 film classic Noli Me Tangere through collaboration with foreign embassies; and as a National Hero through mall wide exhibits and events in partnership with the National Historical Commission. Activities with his descendants gave mallgoers a rare look into his human side.

SM Supermalls also received four Awards of Merit, led by the SM Global Pinoy Program, which received two trophies. Born out of a vision: To create an exclusive place to serve the 9 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families when they visit SM Supermalls, the SM Global Pinoy Center is a one-stop service center, an in-mall lounge that offers refreshments, Internet/communication facilities, Remittance and Foreign Exchange counters.

Another Award of Merit was received by the Green Film Festival, an SM Cares program that educates the youth on the worth of being good stewards of the environment – through film. Through free film showings, SM Supermalls has been able to disseminate the message of environmentalism to students across the nation, who have the greatest potential to positively affect the ecological future of our nation.

While SM City North Edsa, also received an Award of Merit for its a tourism-oriented summer campaign Your Guide To The Philippines. The mall’s Skygarden showcased 3-dimensional replicas of 8 of the country’s most exciting tourist destination like the Tubbataha Reef, the Apo Reef, and the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park; as well as UNESCO World Heritage sites like Vigan, the Miag-ao Church in Iloilo, and the Saint Augustine Church in Paoay.