Beyond the CSR acronym: Run, smile, learn, witness life

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 10 percent of our population in the Philippines is composed of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).
“Imagine that. Ten percent,” Clark Development Corporation (CDC) President Benigno N. Ricafort said who seemed perplexed by the statistics.
“That’s about 9 million PWDs from the more than 80 million Filipinos living with us today,” he added.
Ricafort, who has embedded the practice Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR in the mindset of each CDC employees , pushed the CDC beyond its mandate to transform this former United States military installation into a magnet for investments and development.
Thanks to the vision of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who helped transform this Freeport into one of the top investment destinations in the Southeast Asian region, the last 10 years saw a robust growth in and around the Clark .
The President’s vision became a reality, nay, a legacy as the CDC focused on development thrusts, particularly on infrastructure development, which was Clark ’s magnet for international and local investors.
The CDC also has the Clark CSR programs as another legacy – a legacy that aims to improve the quality of life of PWDs and other indigent people of Pampanga.
“This is another legacy that I want for Clark – the CDC’s care and commitment to pursue sound and meaningful CSR programs that are beneficial to surrounding communities in the province of
Pampanga ,” Ricafort said.
“It’s not enough that we live our day to day lives worrying and complaining about a variety of woes when just outside the four walls of our homes could be a neighbor who is in dire need of an artificial leg, or perhaps the old lady at the sari-sari store by the corner may have poor vision because she is suffering from cataract,” Ricafort said.
According to Ricafort, there are many Filipinos whose living conditions “are far worse than ours. Far worse than the trivial wretchedness we keep ranting about every day.”
It is for this reason, Ricafort stressed, that the CDC forged ties with the Kapampangan Development Foundation (KDF) to provide H.E.L.P. – Health, Education, and Livelihood for Pampanga.
“In Clark , we have put our acts together and stopped complaining… We’ve decided to HELP,”
Ricafort said.  
The CDC, Kapampangan Development Foundation (KDF) and their various partners in service have decided to HELP.
Ricafort noted that the CDC and the KDF’s goal is to return to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) the “dignity of being able to live a productive life amidst their disabilities by restoring their physical capabilities whether they are amputees, cataract patients, or afflicted with harelip and other facial deformities.”