This year’s cycle highlighted non U.S. headquartered companies making significant contributions in education, environment, livelihood, healthcare, disaster response, and community engagement.

United States Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson praised the awardees for championing purpose driven leadership and advancing shared prosperity between Filipinos, Americans, and partner communities.

AmCham Philippines President Sara Murphy also thanked members for their continued engagement and commitment to responsible business practices. Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo reinforced government support for private sector programs that empower communities and strengthen industries.

Senior AmCham leaders, including Executive Director Ebb Hinchliffe, joined partners and finalists in recognizing this year’s top initiatives.

The highest honor, the Impact Excellence Award, went to Pilmico Foods Corporation for Project Silk, an inclusive program supporting yellow corn farmers and promoting resilient agricultural communities. Project Silk was selected from all Gold Awardees across the first two cycles for its measurable impact, strong community participation, and potential for replication.

Category Winners

Education and Future Workforce
Gold: Nezda Technologies Inc. – Nezda FEES
Silver: Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc. – Frontier Towers Scholarship Program
Bronze: Quezon Power Philippines and San Buenaventura Power – Technical Vocational Scholarship Program
MSME: Hamlin Iturralde Corporation (TeamAsia) – My Dream in a Shoebox

Environmental Sustainability and Resource Efficiency
Gold: Aboitiz Power Corporation Therma Visayas – Carbon Sink Management Program
Silver: Converge ICT Solutions – Countdown to Zero Waste
Silver: Reckitt – Mortein Anti Dengue Campaign with Makati LGU
Bronze: Quezon Power and SBPL – Mangrove Reforestation Program
MSME: Raslag Corporation – Agricultural Photovoltaics Project 2025

Economic Empowerment and Livelihood Development
Gold: Pilmico Foods Corporation – Project Silk
Silver: PMFTC – Project KainBigan
Bronze: Aboitiz Power Corporation – Skills Training Program
MSME: Science Park of the Philippines – Kaagapay sa Hanapbuhay

Healthcare Equity and Support
Gold: BDO Unibank – Rural Health Unit Rehabilitation
Silver: Reckitt – ComeTogether Youth Education Campaign
Bronze: AstraZeneca Philippines – Young Health Programme

Disaster Response and Emergency Relief
Gold: GMA Network – Operation Bayanihan
Silver: BDO Unibank – Relief and Disaster Response
Bronze: Reckitt – Lysol Disinfect to Protect Mission
MSME: Clark International Airport Corporation – Relief Aid Mission Bangon Batangas

Community Impact and Civic Engagement

Gold: Thomson Reuters – Duyan Foundation Outreach
Silver: Pilmico Foods Corporation – Adopt A City Program
Bronze: Vena Energy – Water Sanitation and Hygiene Program
SME: Gerodias Suchianco Estrella Law Firm – Kaanib sa Misyon

Finalists were evaluated by an independent panel composed of Ma. Corazon Halili Dichosa of the Board of Investments, Paul Taylor of the United States Embassy, and Ruy Moreno of the Philippine Quality Awards Foundation. Entries were assessed based on impact, sustainability, innovation, scalability, community engagement, alignment, and communication effectiveness. AmCham Philippines had no involvement in the judging process.

The AmCham Corporate Social Impact Awards will continue as an annual program encouraging organizations to pursue impactful and scalable initiatives that strengthen communities and support national development.

The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced today another reduction in electricity bills as the overall rate went down by P0.1185 to P9.5842 per kWh, from last month’s P9.7027 per kWh. This is equivalent to a decrease of around P24 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh, for a cumulative bill reduction of P39 since the start of the year.

Lower generation charge pulled down overall rates

The generation charge for February decreased by P0.2305 per kWh to P5.1957 per kWh from P5.4262 last month, due to lower charges from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), which more than offset an increase in the rate from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs).

Charges from the IPPs went down by P0.3395 per kWh due to higher plant dispatch of Quezon Power and First Gas – Sta. Rita.  Quezon Power resumed normal operations in the January supply month after experiencing some outages and deration in December, while First Gas – Sta. Rita’s output increased following the completion of the scheduled maintenance outage of Module 10 in December.

The IPP charges also reflected a reimbursement from SPEX to First Gas covering a portion of incremental fuel cost incurred in relation to the use of liquid fuel during unplanned Malampaya gas supply restrictions.

These were able to more than offset the increase in Malampaya natural gas prices resulting from its quarterly repricing, and an increase in coal prices.

WESM charges this month decreased by P13.1277 per kWh due to the significant reduction in Meralco’s WESM purchases, which mitigated the impact of higher spot market prices during the January supply month.

Despite lower demand because of cooler weather, the Luzon grid was placed on Yellow Alert on January 10 and 11 due to forced plant outages. The tight supply condition led to sustained high WESM prices, which triggered the imposition of the secondary price cap 28.37% of the time.

The PSA rate, meanwhile, increased by P0.1631 per kWh, owing to lower demand that led to lower excess energy deliveries, which are priced at a discount, from AC Energy, San Miguel Energy Corp. (Sual), and South Premiere Power Corp. (Ilijan).  The lower average PSA dispatch, with San Buenaventura on scheduled maintenance until January 19, also contributed to the rate increase.

IPPs, PSAs, and WESM provided 52.2%, 47.4%, and 0.4% of Meralco’s energy requirement, respectively.

Movements in other charges

Transmission charge for residential customers, on the other hand, increased by P0.0454 per kWh due to higher Ancillary Service and Power Delivery Service charges.

Taxes and other charges also registered a net increase of P0.0666 per kWh mainly resulting from the resumption of local franchise tax (LFT) recovery, in accordance with Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) rules, and higher effective value-added tax (VAT) rates this month.

Collection of the Universal Charge-Environmental Charge amounting to P0.0025 per kWh remains suspended as directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges have remained unchanged for 79 months, after registering a reduction back in July 2015.

Meralco reiterated that it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges, as payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the NGCP. Taxes and other public policy charges like the Universal Charges and the Feed-in Tariff Allowance are remitted to the government.

Distribution true-up refund

Meralco’s continued implementation of the Distribution Rate True-Up refund which began in March 2021 continued to temper upward movements of rates. The refund rate for residential customers is at P0.2761 per kWh and appears in customer bills as a line item called “Dist True-Up”.

It can be recalled that the ERC provisionally approved Meralco’s proposal to refund around P13.9 billion over a period of 24 months or until the amount is fully refunded. This amount represented the difference between the Actual Weighted Average Tariff and the ERC-approved Interim Average Rate for distribution-related charges for the period July 2015 to November 2020.