The CSR Guild recognized the Baslay Coffee Program for its Corporate Social Responsibility Project for Enterprise Development this year
For over 30 years now, the Baslay Coffee Program has provided training and guidance to former slash-and-burn farmers and, in the process, turned them into forest stewards. The program based in Negros Oriental earned geothermal leader Energy Development Corp. (EDC) an award from the CSR Guild as the best Corporate Social Responsibility Project for Enterprise Development this year.
The Baslay Coffee Program training for members of the Baslay Farming Association (BFA) turned these former kaingeros into forest stewards after they learned the value and income potential of tending to forests, particularly the preservation of forests in Dauin, Negros Oriental. The BFA is the first farmers association in the province to produce premium and quality organic coffee that has been recognized by globally trained baristas based in the Philippines.
The BFA established its own coffee shop in 2018 to make the product available to local and international tourists. The group was accredited by the Department of Tourism Region 7 as the only agroeco-tourism site in Negros Oriental. They also won several awards including the Grand Anvil award from the prestigious Public Relations Society of the Philippines and the Lopez Achievement Award.
EDC, for its part, has been providing an uninterrupted supply of clean, renewable power in Visayas for over 37 years. It generates over 40 percent of the country’s renewable energy output and 10 percent of the country’s overall electricity demand. It also accounts for the nation’s 62 percent of installed geothermal capacity, making the Philippines the world’s third largest geothermal power producer.
The Energy Development Corporation (EDC) is a pioneer in generating 100% clean, renewable, and reliable power as an electricity supplier in the Philippines for over 40 years. With power plants all over Visayas and Mindanao, the company is one of the biggest producers of geothermal energy in Asia and is expanding its reach in the international market, allowing it to offer customers affordable energy rates. EDC also strives to provide the best customer service it can to all its clients by having helpful salespeople and easy to understand contracts. Because of all of this, it is poised to become the premier supplier of electricity for the Philippines’ Green Energy Option Program. EDC takes its mission as a renewable energy provider seriously and goes beyond sustainability by investing in programs that enhance the environment and empower its partner communities, thereby fostering regenerative development. The company has also been working toward being carbon-neutral by improving its energy efficiency, as well as implementing various greening projects to ensure that its mission to provide future generations with a better life remains intact.
