The country’s state-gaming operator and regulator reaped accolades for the country after winning the prestigious Excellence Award in the 2015 International Gold Quill competition.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) “Pinoy Bayanihan Project” bagged the Excellence Award for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) category. The award is among the highest honors conferred by the Gold Quill competition.

The Gold Quill Awards is a worldwide competition being carried out annually by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) which has more than 12,000 members around the globe. The Gold Quill recognizes private and public companies which have implemented PR and Corporate Communications programs that meet the seven-point scale of excellence for strategic communication planning and implementation set by IABC. The winners were decided by an international panel of evaluators.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Cristino L. Naguiat, Jr. led the agency’s delegation in the Excellence Gala Awards Night held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in San Francisco, California, USA.

“We are proud to accept this Gold Quill Excellence Award not only for PAGCOR but for the Philippines as well. This recognition is one of the milestones achieved by our administration. It only proves that even the international community appreciates and acknowledges the importance of the life changing CSR projects that we are implementing like the Pinoy Bayanihan project,” Naguiat said.

Meanwhile Assistant Vice President Maricar L. Bautista, head of PAGCOR’s Corporate Communications and Services Department said the honor brings to the fore the huge success of the state-owned gaming firm’s communication efforts.

“We are extremely elated by this achievement, being recognized by an esteemed international PR and business communications award-giving body. So much hardwork, dedication and relentless efforts had been exerted just to be able to realize its ultimate goal, that of benefitting thousands of students in the country and at the same time making people be aware of what the agency is doing to extend help to those in need”, Bautista said.

The Pinoy Bayanihan Project is a collaborative undertaking of four government agencies namely: PAGCOR, Department of Education (DepEd), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Through the “Pinoy Bayanihan” project, confiscated illegal logs are used to manufacture thousands of armchairs utilizing the P100 million funding from PAGCOR.

Since its implementation beginning 2011, roughly 60,000 armchairs had been produced through the project. They were donated to almost 400 public schools nationwide, particularly in the CARAGA region and the cities of Muntinlupa, Taguig, Las Piñas and Parañaque.

Apart from helping address the backlog of school desks in public schools nationwide, the “Pinoy Bayanihan” also provides livelihood opportunities to locals residing in communities where the furniture production sites are located.

The “Pinoy Bayanihan” project gave livelihood to many locals who became jobless after the logging ban was implemented. Several of them were trained and hired as furniture makers in the “Pinoy Bayanihan” production plant in Agusan del Sur, Mindanao and as millers in five milling clusters in the area. Through this project, PAGCOR was able to find an innovative way of turning a problem into a solution.

Feedback from a respected panel of evaluators for 2015 Gold Quill states that PAGCOR’s Pinoy Bayanihan Project “is a great example of strategic thinking, using Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that is perfectly aligned to business needs as well as society’s needs. The project is very praiseworthy.”

Priya Bates ABC MC who is the 2015 International Gold Quill Chair said the international panel of 150 evaluators from all over the world were impressed by the quality of entries this year. “We had consistent feedback from evaluators that this year they were seeing some of the best work they’d seen in years,” she said.

Bates added that the Gold Quill winners should be very proud of their achievements. “Gold Quill sets out to recognize communication that meets a business need – either solving a problem, working through an issue, or maximizing an opportunity. It’s not just about attractive execution, we look for the strategic impact. We’re thrilled to see the industry embracing the significant impact communicators can have on business outcomes,” she explained.

This is the second year that PAGCOR won the coveted international Gold Quill award. The state-owned gaming firm bagged a Merit Award in the 2014 Gold Quill for its “Matuwid na Daan sa Silid-Aralan” school building project.

A total of 313 awards were given during the 2015 Gold Quill Awards (124 Excellence and 189 Merit). About 15 countries made it in the winners list this year. The Philippines won a total of 9 awards. Aside from PAGCOR, the other Philippine companies that won the Gold Quill this year include Shell, Globe Telecom, Studio 5 Designs, Inc., Smart Communications Inc., Prulife UK, ABS-CBN, and Holcim Philippines, Inc.

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