On November 13, Mr. Antonio "Tony" Del Rosario, the president of Coca-Cola Philippines, together with members of the Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines, Inc. (CCFPI) Board of Trustees and CCFPI president Ms. Ma. Cecilia Alcantara visited the 2017 Coca-Cola funded Agos project in Brgy. Sikatuna, Isabela on the island of Negros. The day started with a 1.5-hour drive from Bacolod to Isabela and upon arriving a trek to the ram pump. Co-founder and CEO of AIDFI, Mr. Auke Idzenga, explained how the ram pump operates and brings water to a 30,000-liter capacity reservoir tank located 102 meters above the source. This is then distributed to 13 mechanical water kiosks throughout the community which includes the Elementary and High Schools. He also explained the importance of the social component of the project which includes the organizing of a community water association and training of the officers and technicians.
The next day we again joined CCFPI as we presented a new project for Agos in Isabela, Negros Occidental. A short presentation before the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement was done by our COO, Mr. Che Idzenga. He presented Barangay Amin, which is a community mostly composed of Indigenous People who rely on farming as their source of income. A gravity water system will be built in the community in 105 days by AIDFI which will have a 2.5 kilometers gravity pipeline delivered to a 60,000 liters-capacity reservoir and distributed along 4 kilometers of pipes to 13 mechanical water kiosks located along the different puroks. The project will benefit 250 households who will also receive tabletop water filters to ensure clean and safe drinking water.
The Memorandum of Agreement was signed by the President of CCFPI, Ms. Cecile Alcantara, and our CEO, Mr. Auke Idzenga. The signing was witnessed by the President of Coca-Cola Philippines, Mr. Antonio "Tony" Del Rosario, and the Mayor of Isabela, Hon. Irene C. Montilla.
Our CEO and COO then traveled to Manila on November 16 to join the Coca-Cola Philippines event which laid out the 2030 Water Security Strategies of the Coca-Cola Company. As a decade-long partner of CCFPI, we were pleased to hear the goals of Coca-Cola on water for the next decade, globally and in the Philippines. The different efforts all align with the strategies that are focused on:
Operations: Striving to achieve 100% circular water use across 175 facilities identified as leadership locations.
Watershed: Partnering with like-minded organizations to enhance the health of 60 critical watersheds.
Communities: Aiming to return a cumulative total of 2 trillion liters of water to nature and communities globally between 2021 and 2030.
Despite Coca-Cola Philippines already reaching its replenishment goals before 2020, we are glad that they continue to provide more communities with easy access to clean and safe drinking water. AIDFI is committed and ready to do its part in helping reach the 2030 Water Security Goals.