Group of corporate foundations bucks measures requiring CSR

THE business community is opposing two bills seeking to institutionalize corporate social responsibility activities.

While CSR should be embedded in every company’s “business DNA,” Ed Amistad, chairperson of the League of Corporate Foundations, said it should not be required by law and should remain as a voluntary activity.

“CSR should come from the heart so you can do more than comply. If you could give as much as you can because you have the resources, so be it,” Amistad said on the sidelines of the launch of the CSR Expo 2011.

“If it’s mandated, it’s not CSR,” he said.

The two bills institutionalizing CSR have been filed before the House and the Senate.

Former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo and son Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo authored House Bill 1224 or the “Corporate Social Responsibility Act of 2010,” citing the need to strengthen sustainable economic and environment development and protection by institutionalizing CSR.

Sen. Manuel Villar filed Senate Bill No. 2747, mandating “large taxpayers” to allocate a reasonable percentage of their net income to CSR or projects that complement government’s goals.

The bill also seeks to provide incentives to said business organizations by deducting reasonable CSR-related expenses and activities which are parallel to the goals of the government from the donors’ taxable income.
But the LCF is open to a dialogue with the industry and the authors of the bills, inviting Villar to be one of the speakers in the LCF CSR Expo on July 20 to 21 at the SMX Convention Center.

“We are not closing our doors. We want to study and there have been revisions in the bill which is good. They listen to the comments and I believe the discussion in the expo will help further improve the bill,” Amistad said.

Villar would be joined by Yanti T. Koestoer, a CSR expert from Indonesia, the only country with an approved CSR Law. –Krista Angela M. Montealegre, Manila Times