Borne out of the social turbulence of the early 1980s, the Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. (PSFI) was a concrete manifestation of the Shell companies in the Philippines (SciP), particularly the Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation’s (PSPC), commitment to look beyond the bottom line and to consider as well the impact of profits to society as a whole.
PSFI was established on August 19, 1982 as an operating foundation engaged in social development projects. The foundation was established to help uplift the lives of the disadvantaged sector in the Philippines. PSFI’s trustees wanted to channel assistance to communities even in areas where there was no PSPC business investment. Cesar A. Buenaventura, then president of the PSPC and chairperson of PBSP from 1976-1979, said, “We are very well aware of the fact that a large sector of the population needs help at the level of basic necessities, and that our government is not in a position to provide for these. It is the responsibility of companies, especially those that derive their income from the mass population, to contribute back part of their earnings for national development.
