Holcim bags 8 environment awards

MALOLOS CITY—Cement manufacturer Holcim Philippines bagged eight awards including the highest honor for excellence in environmental management, safety and health, and social and community development in the recent  Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference (ANSMEC) Awards.

Holcim’s plant in Lugait, Misamis Oriental received the Presidential Mineral Industry Environmental Award (PMIEA), while the company’s facilities in Bacnotan, La Union, Norzagaray, Bulacan, and Davao City received Platinum Awards, the second highest honor.

It was the sixth straight year Holcim Philippines bagged the PMIEA. Its Bacnotan and Davao plants received the PMIEA last year, while its Lugait facility won this in 2009.

Aside from above awards, the Lugait and Norzagaray facilities of Holcim bagged the first and second runners-up honors, respectively, for Best Mining Forest-Non Metallic Category, while the Bacnotan plant was a runner up for Safest Cement Plant Operation.

Juanito Duron, a shift operations manager for Holcim Philippines’s Lugait plant, was named Best Mine Supervisor.

The awards were handed out on November 22 in Baguio City.

Ed Sahagun, Holcim Philippines Chief Operating Officer thanked ANSMEC  organizers for consistently recognizing the company’s commitment to responsible operations.

“I do commit that in the following years, our participation will not just be to win awards but to share with companies who would like to learn from our best practices, and for us to learn from other companies,” he said.

Noting that the ANSMEC’s theme for 2013 is “60 Years of Giving Back,” Sahagun said the industry should do more to help in the rebuilding efforts of Visayas, which was recently battered by natural calamities.

“On behalf of Holcim Philippines, I’d like to appeal to everyone to at least give more to the victims of Yolanda and spend more for the rebuilding of Visayas. We have some experiences to share, and we’d love to share them with all of you on how we have to rebuild lives, for them to become hopeful that the future will be there. And they will start rebuilding, so they can live in a sustainable community,” he said.

Considered as one of the world's leading suppliers of cement and aggregates as well as downstream activities such as ready-mix concrete and asphalt, Holcim holds majority and minority interests in more than 70 countries on all continents.

Holcim Philippines, Inc. (HPHI) is a Philippines-based cement manufacturer and a member of Holcim Group.

The company is involved in the manufacture, sale and distribution of cement to the domestic and export markets and  produces four cement productsnamely, Holcim Excel, Holcim WallRight, Holcim Premium Bulk and Holcim 4X.

Holcim Philippines operates four cement plants in La Union, Bulacan, Misamis Oriental, and Davao.  It currently has more than 1,700 employees in the country.

The PMIEA was established in 1997 through Executive Order No. 399 in compliance with the policy that mining activities should be pro-environment and pro-people.

Its selection committee is composed of the secretaries of the Departments of Environment, Trade, Interior and Local Government, Health, Science and Technology.

The other members are the presidents of the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association, Philippine Mineral Exploration Association and Chambers of Mines of the Philippines.  Dino Balabo