On Top of the World

John Dizon, Jr. of Benguet-based environmental conservation group NAMALISA plants trees in support of SM Foundation’s and Fast Retailing Foundation’s Grow Trees Community project.   Like his father before him, John Dizon, Jr. and his family have been long-time stewards of protected trees in their community in Tuba, Benguet. When the time came for him to take up the mantle, he did so willingly to honor his father’s legacy. “My father passed away in 2012. It was then that we found out that the area he is managing in collaboration with the government was part of a community-based forest management program,” said Mr. Dizon. A year later, Mr. Dizon, who now heads Benguet-based environmental conservation group, Nagawa, Manganese, Liw-Liw, Sadle Agroforestry Assoc. Inc.  (NAMALISA), started working closely with the SM Foundation for an inaugural tree-planting campaign back in 2013 to pick up where his father had left off in his advocacy.  With the impact of climate change ...

Many people have become more aware of the importance of sustainability in everyday living during the two years that the world faced the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Environmental awareness has caught on through practices such as shifting to paperless, reducing plastic use and planting more trees. For property developers, taking part in this movement means transitioning into green buildings and developments. Such is the case for SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), a publicly listed subsidiary of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) that is committed to building innovative and sustainable lifestyle cities. SM Prime is future-proofing its developments to be more responsive and adaptive to community needs and the effects of climate change in line with comprehensive sustainability goals ranging from energy to ecology. Over the years, SM Prime has continued to elevate its approach to building and development of community spaces.  All these green initiatives have been recognized by repu...