MPTC, PLDT join hands for children

Infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., telco giant PLDT and mobile firm Smart pledged to advance child rights advocacy in partnership with the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the Ateneo Human Rights Center.

MPTC conducted a four-day training to strengthen its commitment to embed Child Rights and Business Principles (CRBP) in its core operations.

The initiative is part of a broader call to promote sustainable and inclusive growth across all its tollway concessions — NLEX, SCTEX, NLEX Connector, CAVITEX, CALAX, and CCLEX — which have been at the forefront of integrating child rights and road safety into its operations.

Business cares

AHRC facilitated the training sessions that included comprehensive modules on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), child labor, safe working environments for parents, and community impact assessments.

“We at MPTC know that protecting children’s rights is not just a legal obligation but a moral imperative. We ensure that our corporate practices respect and manage operational impact on children in the workplace, marketplace, environment and community,” MPTC chief corporate governance and risk officer and head of sustainability Cynthia Casiño.

In the workshop, PLDT and Smart chief sustainability officer Melissa V. Vergel de Dios shared the group’s journey to integrate children’s rights into its business frameworks. PLDT and Smart both uphold Child Safeguarding Policies and identify Child Protection as part of their environmental, social, and governance materiality areas.

“As businesses, we have a significant role to play in the protection and promotion of children’s rights. At PLDT and Smart, we identify children as part of our most active end-users and as family members of our employees and customers. Having a child rights lens thus aligns with our efforts to make the digital environment safer — part of our doing business responsibly,” Vergel de Dios said.

This is also part of MPTC’s existing road safety efforts for children. In 2022, MPTC entered into a multi-year agreement with UNICEF to share resources and commit to building sustainable models for safe school zones and child road traffic injury to support 100 schools in high-risk areas that will benefit over 20,000 children.

The Department of Health has recognized this partnership project with a prestigious Healthy Pilipinas Gold Award for advancing health promotion strategies to help shape a healthier future for Filipino children.