The SM Group, one of the biggest conglomerates in the country, is becoming more conscious than ever of the need to reach out and engage with the public especially with regard to its corporate social responsibility programs. Hans Sy recently met with us, Inquirer columnist Mon Tulfo and ABS-CBN regional director Charie Villa (whose Choose Philippines advocacy campaign received an Award of Excellence during the recent Philippine Quill Awards) to get feedback on how to best communicate its efforts and serve a bigger sector of the public via its CSR projects.

People should be made aware that SM has a lot of community programs ranging from blood donations and medical missions in partnership with government and private groups, and gives scholarships to bright and talented young people via the SM Foundation. In fact, four of SM’s scholars were among the top 10 during the recent CPA licensure examinations. We are told that PWDs (Persons with Disabilities) are also employed in SM malls, providing opportunities for the “physically challenged” to showcase their skills and potentials via job fairs geared for PWDs.

Incidentally, SM Development Corp. was also in Forbes Asia’s list of “Best Under a Billion” companies, one of only three corporations from the Philippines that made it in the list pared down to 200 from over 15,000 companies in 15 countries across Asia Pacific. The award honors businesses that have shown resiliency against the backdrop of a precarious global economy, with annual revenues recorded between $5 million and $1 billion. Forbes scrutinized the companies who made it in the 200 list based on sales growth, earnings growth and return on equity over the last three years, with the period ending in August this year.

“It’s not all about business,” Hans told us, admitting that effective communication efforts are integral to raise public awareness about the company’s activities without sounding that they are drumbeating their accomplishments. Definitely, the public has the right to know all sides of an issue – which more often than not can be muddled by overzealous groups who are not above engaging in disinformation and misinformation to destroy the reputation of businesses and individuals.