The SM Environment Committee aims to involve education as a primary way to support communities and cultivate the love of the earth.
In a bid to raise awareness on the current state of environment to encourage positive action towards preserving the eco-system, SM Supermalls kicked off its environmental advocacy project, the Green Film Festival (GFF) by showing its first documentary to hundreds of public high school students at the SM Megamall cinema.
The GFF screening was held last Tuesday and was attended by officials from the Climate Change Commission (CCC), Department of Education (DepEd), Movies and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and representatives from the USAid. The project aims to educate and make Filipinos aware to the plight of our earth today through a visual information campaign for eco-awareness.
Students from the Neptali Gonzales High School in Mandaluyong City were shown a 45-minute TV documentary produced by GMA 7 called “Pagbangon” which tells the story of survivors of super typhoon Yolanda especially in Eastern Visayas and how they coped with the tragedy and rose from the devastation.
Visit GFF, held every third Tuesday of the month, from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM, except for the months of March and December which will have special screenings dates on the first Tuesday of the month due to class schedules.
The screenings will be shown to students for free in 49 cinemas in various SM Supermalls and six Walter Mart malls all over the country. The GFF is a project of SM Cares, a Division of SM Foundation and the CSR arm of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., in partnership with MTRCB, DepEd and the CCC. Special screenings will also be held to reach out to the 1.9M out of school youth in the country.
Liza Silerio, Program Director of SM Cares Committee on Environment and Sustainability, said they aim to reach 1 million grade school and high school students which is the reason why the malls are encouraged to add more screen dates for special student groups to reach the goal.
“We want to spread the environmental advocacy using the visual medium and through this festival, we want students to see the beauty of our planet, teach them value of conserving our shared resources and plan and practice environmental efforts towards a sustainable future for our children’s children,” Silerio said.
CCC head Secretary Mary Ann Lucille Sering, who was present during the initial screening told the crowd that there is a need for countries worldwide to unite in the light of the worsening effects of climate change and work to address the problem.
She said the government is doing its part locally through its public information drive to raise people’s awareness on the changes happening in their country and on how they would prepare for future calamities.
Silerio stressed that SM has always been involved in environmental conservation advocacy and projects. She said SM Prime Holdings President, Mr. Hans T. Sy, is a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG) of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and has committed to furthering disaster awareness locally, in places of operation as well as the malls’ tenants and customers who are considered stakeholders in the company.
SM Prime Holdings created the SM Cares program which consolidates Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, ranging from environmental conservation, assistance to persons with disabilities and special needs, elderly and nursing mothers, as well as care for children, women and OFWs.
“We highlight our award-winning projects that include, among others the Trash to Cash recycling market held in the malls every first Friday and Saturday of the month, the Green Retail Agenda forum for mall tenants, contractors, and suppliers and of course, the SM Supermalls Green Bag. The SM Environment Committee aims to involve education as a primary way to support communities and cultivate the love of the earth. These are some of the projects that show our support for the community.” Silerio said.
The SM Environment Committee is just one of the groups under SM Cares and it specifically aims to promote environmental sustainability through, mall, tenant and community endeavors while simultaneously combining “going green” with good business.
To know more about SM Cares, please visit :
or email smcares@smsupermalls.com.
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