ASM Statement on Corporate Social Responsibility
“The family is the burden carrier of social order”. More than typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng, etc., there is a calamity that has been causing havoc upon the lives of millions of Filipino families. This kind of calamity is called the Filipino diaspora. Seafaring, our core business, contributes to the erosion and break-up of some marriages and families. For this, we feel deeply responsible.
It all started in the late 60s. My father in law sent the first batch of cadets to Germany in 1968 and from there evolved at least 2 more generations of seafarers as well as various manning agencies who can trace their roots from his agency. His son, Alberto Gomez, our President and Chief Executive Officer, in most of his addresses would say he does not like to see the broken families and unfulfilled dreams of his father’s generation of seafarers in his. Associated Ship Management hopes to transform that into a reality.
“Forever may be too ambitious a word” as Bernardo Villegas, a noted Filipino economist said in one of his recent articles. But as long as there are Filipinos, there will be Filipino seafarers, especially officers manning the international ships. Seafaring is a permanent professional choice for many Filipinos coming from the islands of Panay, Cebu, Leyte and Mindanao. It is our advocacy to be proactive in helping minimize if not eradicate the social cost of this permanent professional career choice that has brought into our economy $3.8 billion in remittances in 2010.
ASM’s statement on Corporate Social Responsibility was adopted as early as 2004. It has, since then, become part of its Strategic Planning. We have since provided families of sea and shore-based employees with access to modern communication technology, seminars on financial literacy and psychosocial intervention, alternative income generating opportunities, seminars on parenting and strengthening the bonds of marriage, summer enrichment activities for children, among others. ASM recently supported an initiative of Ateneo CeFam (Center for Family Ministries) to produce and eventually deliver a module on Parent-Teen Dialogue, with the general objective of improving communication among members of our seafarers’ families . Effective communication is found to be a critical factor to the success of raising children in migrant families.
As we claim to have “walked the talk” and with nearly a decade invested into our endeavors, we are now provided with a glimpse of all our programs’ efficacy and its impact on the lives of our seafarers. We confidently state that we are more than just a crewing agency but rather a sea-based human resource company who continues to live out its mantra of Building Careers, Preserving Families, Strengthening a Nation.
