Supporting mobility and education in the time of crisis

During the community lockdowns in 2020, transportation and education were among the sectors that experienced major disruptions. The government’s strictest pronouncement of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) suspended mass transportation and prioritized the mobility of essential goods and healthcare services. Schools also closed, facing the challenge to sustain and ensure quality learning without face-to-face classes, and leading to the inception of a national distance learning platform.

While operating on a skeletal workforce during the ECQ, Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation (TMP) responded to the immediate need for mobility of healthcare frontliners. TMP lent out a fleet of 49 Toyota vehicles to support in health emergencies. Likewise, TMP deployed 10 fully sanitized Hiace units equipped with a mobile booking application for added safety and efficiency at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila. In June 2020, the Company donated 30 Toyota Vios units to government hospitals in Metro Manila and Santa Rosa City, Laguna. With all these initiatives, the ‘Mobility Support to COVID-19 Healthcare Frontliners’ benefitted 37 public and private hospitals in 16 cities and municipalities in South Luzon.

In its local community in Santa Rosa City, Laguna, TMP supported the transition to ‘new normal’ learning of its adopted school, Pulong Sta. Cruz Elementary School (PSCES). Through its official humanitarian arm, TMP Foundation (TMPF), the Company sponsored 46 new laptop computers for the teachers to be equipped in preparing lesson plans and holding online classes. Moreover, TMPF turned over 8,000 printed learning modules for various grade levels and subjects, thermal scanners, face shields and masks, sanitation items, and hardware supplies for the school facilities. The past completion of TMPF's Computerization Project in 2018 had prepared PSCES for distance or blended modes of learning, equipping it for 21st Century Learning.

TMP continues to drive socio-economic contributions that benefit local communities and complement the nation’s efforts for speedy post-COVID recovery. Through TMPF, it implements various CSR programs under the pillars of Health, Education, Community Service, and Environment. In 2020, the Company’s COVID-related community investments amounted to more than PHP31 million. With the improving COVID situation in the country, TMPF refocuses on its pre-pandemic priority programs such as automotive education scholarship program for indigent youth across the Philippines.

For these corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ) recognized TMP in the 5th ‘Driven to Serve’ awards program. TMP received the Gold Award in both the COVID-19 Response and Education categories for its ‘Mobility Support to COVID-19 Healthcare Frontliners’ and ‘Support to Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan of Adopted School,’ respectively.

"As we continue to live with the pandemic, it is vital that organizations remain committed to doing good to enact positive change in the communities where we operate,” said J. Luigi Bautista, NLEX Corporation president & general manager and member of SPMJ Driven to Serve Awards Board of Judges, during the awarding ceremony. “These programs demonstrate commitment to the greater good and show the portrait of a caring industry – that despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, you were able to step up and help those in need," he added.

The SPMJ is composed of columnists and journalists in the print, broadcast and online media, an organization that started in 2002. The group is known for its ‘Driven to Serve’ awards that recognize outstanding CSR efforts by automotive and motorcycle manufacturers in the country.