Nearly two months after Typhoon Odette caused massive destruction in the Visayas and Mindanao, Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. continues to send assistance including safe drinking water.
CCBPI, Coca-Cola’s bottling arm in the country, mobilized its resources to deliver 60,000 liters of Wilkins drinking water across the affected provinces and cities— as the collective recovery efforts begin a shift towards rebuilding.
The company is also working with the local government of Mandaue City in Cebu for the deployment of a SETA machine—a mobile water treatment equipment that processes water to make it potable. The SETA machine was previously installed in evacuation sites and communities in Marawi, Davao del Sur, and Bicol following calamities.
CCBPI’s outreach was launched even as the company itself was recovering from the onslaught of Typhoon Odette, which disrupted operations of 15 of its sites—from major plants and distribution centers to sales offices.
While its sites experienced massive power outages and had to run on limited generator capacities, CCBPI associates carried out priority initiatives of providing relief and potable water to affected families in the communities it serves.
“Despite the company bearing the brunt of Odette, we saw to it that we fulfilled our responsibility to help—and I am very proud that our teams on the ground stayed true to this calling of civic duty, social responsibility, and service,” said CCBPI president and chief executive Gareth McGeown.
He said Coca-Cola’s Cebu plant in Mandaue became a main hub for water support in Cebu to provide immediate relief and help sustain rehabilitation efforts in the province and in other areas in the Visayas.
The plant opened its doors 24/7 in the immediate aftermath of the typhoon to deliver water across affected areas and for locals to source drinking water from the site.
“Our people first commitment will always be our guiding principle when serving and helping our partners in times of great need. That our people carried out this commitment despite the wide-reaching challenges of a major calamity speaks to the strength of character of our employees,” McGeown said.
CCBPI also allocated a P5-million disaster relief fund for its associates who were affected by the typhoon. Further relief assistance, which includes over 70,000 liters of drinking water and almost P800,000 worth of grocery items, was delivered to barrios, towns and municipalities destroyed by Odette.
CCBPI employees in other parts of the country pooled resources in an internal donation drive that gathered more than P600,000 to help fellow associates from Coca-Cola’s Visayas and Mindanao sites rebuild their homes and start anew.
“It warms our hearts to see our Coca-Cola associates from across the country supporting and helping their fellow associates, the hardest-hit of whom had lost their homes and nearly everything they had. It is imperative that we all come together and work to accelerate the recovery of local communities, especially since they are also facing challenges brought by the ongoing pandemic,” McGeown said, in recognition of the contribution of company associates to the relief drive.
CCBPI continues to work with the government, non-government organizations and the private sector in extending support to areas hit by the typhoon to better help more Filipinos.