Legal

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is pushing for the preservation of
employment by businesses and enterprises as the country slowly transitions into the new normal
amid the global health pandemic. San Miguel Corporation is determined to help the wider
economy recover from the effects of the pandemic by pouring resources into creating jobs,
helping the poor, building resilience among vulnerable sectors and increasing the nation’s
capacity to test in order to save more lives.

In order for the SMC to resume operations under the Modified Enhanced Community
Quarantine (MECQ), and more areas now being under the less restrictive General Community
Quarantine (GCQ), SMC should abide to the additional and more specific guidelines to continue
their business:

 Department Order No. 218-20: Guidelines on the Implementation of COVID-19

Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) Under the Bayanihan To Recover As One Act
issued on October 30, 2020. This is the second round of assistance to affected employers
and displaced workers who were not able to receive any government assistance from the
past.

 Labor Advisory No. 17-B-20: Guidelines on Employment Preservation Upon the

Resumption of Business Operations issued on September 09, 2020. The Labor Advisory
provided guidelines to assist Employers to resume their business operations while
preserving the employment of their workers

 Labor Advisory No 18-20: Guidelines on the Cost of COVID-19 Prevention and Control
Measures issued on May 18, 2020. This Advisory clarifies that Employers shall shoulder
the cost of COVID-19 prevention and control measures and that no cost related or
incidental to COVID-19 prevention shall be charged directly or indirectly to the workers.

 Department Order No. 209 –Guidelines on the Adjustment Measures Program For the
Affected Workers due to Corona Virus. Under DAO 209, 5K was granted to affected
workers who will not be able to receive their regular wage due to the implementation of
the Enhanced Community Lockdown (ECQ) and the implementation of flexible work
 arrangement. Affected employees also included those whose leave credits will not suffice
to cover the ECQ period and those in the informal sector.

 Labor Advisory No. 09-20 -Providing Guidelines on the Implementation of Flexible

Work Arrangement As Remedial Measure due to the Ongoing Outbreak of Corona Virus
2019 (COVID-19) issued on 4 March 2020. The said Labor Advisory provided the
different work arrangement the employer may adopt for its employees while the country
is observing the ECQ, which include among others, Work From Home, Work Rotation,
availment of force leave utilizing existing leave credits, if any.

 Labor Advisory No. 11-20 Supplemental Guidelines Relative to the Remedial Measure
in view of the Ongoing Outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) issued 16
March 2020. The said Labor Advisory provided additional guidelines and remedial
measures to be adopted to ensure the observance of ECQ.  It further clarified that
manufacturing, retail and service establishments  shall remain in operation during the
quarantine period observing social distancing. The same rule applies for those in the
healthcare industry and in logistics establishment to ensure delivery of food, raw
materials and other goods to ensure supply is unhampered.

 Labor Advisory No. 12 Series of 2020 – Clarificatory Guidelines on CAMP, issued on

19 March 2020. The Labor Advisory provided guidelines and procedure on how the 5K
grant under CAMP shall be filed in DOLE by providing the Establishment Report to be
submitted online for processing and release of the grant.

 Labor Advisory No. 13-A Series of 2020 – Deferment of Payment of Holiday Pay for
the April 2020 holidays.  April 1, 2020.The Labor Advisory clarified that the employers
shall have the option to defer the payment of holiday pay to be earned for the month of
April 2020 until after the ECQ and the normal operations of the establishment is in place.

 Labor Advisory No. 14 Series of 2020 – Clarification on the Non-Inclusion of One-

Month Enhanced Community Quarantine period on the six-month probationary period.
April 1, 2020. The advisory issued a clarification on the non-inclusion of the ECQ period
in the six-month probationary period prescribed under the Labor Code.  It took into
consideration the inability of the employer to assess the performance of the probationary
employee given the quarantine.
Environmental

The growing environmental pollution coupled with technological advancement has

compelled business organizations to adopt. The environmental program of San Miguel
Foundation Inc. covers pollution prevention, a discipline practiced in SMC plants which
eliminates the generation of waste at the source. Thus. SMC has pioneered several so-called
trend-setting practices in its environment program:

Recycling and waste management

San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has endeavored to improve its management of solid
waste through the passage of RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act that
provides for a systematic, comprehensive and ecological waste management program to ensure
the protection of public health and the environment. and create more livelihood opportunities in
the pandemic by buying up bigger volumes of plastic wastes to fuel its cement manufacturing
facilities. This latest initiative comes after a string of major sustainability efforts launched
recently by the conglomerate that include discontinuing its plastic bottled water busines and
building the country’s first recycled plastics roads. The firm was given an Environmental
Verification Certificate by the Dept. of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Industrial Technology
Development Institute, which confirmed that the biodegradable polypropylene it developed
would be 64.6% degraded within two years--compared to only 4.5 percent within the same
period for non-biodegradable plastics.

Emission Profiling
Corporate Technical Services-Environmental Management Group (CTS-EMG) has been
conducting stack emission sampling in SMC-owned plants throughout the country since 1999
even before the promulgation of the Philippine Government’s Clean Air Act (RA 8749) in 2001.
The emission testing determines the compliance of a plant with the Clean Air Act. Plants which
fail the test are directed to improve the quality of their emission to comply with the law. More
importantly, it improves the performance and efficiency of air pollution source equipment.
Task Force Hangin

Task Force Hangin is responsible for helping plants comply with the Clean Air Act. It is
tasked to pinpoint the best available fuel and control technology for the plants’ fuel burning
equipment. It conducted numerous studies and came up with recommendations to utilize low
sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) and scrubbers as the most efficient options for solving the problem, and
maintain the level of sulfur content in its fuel to about 0.7%S. It also studied the range of fuel
cost that determines when LSFO fuel is advantageous to use versus scrubbers, and when a plant
needs to shift from LSFO to scrubbers.

The study enabled the Task Force to guide the plants in their compliance efforts. All
SMC-owned plants are expected to institute the necessary actions congruent with the Clean Air
Act. 

Biogas Recovery
SMC’s breweries in Mandaue, Davao and Polo, and Distileria Bago, Inc. treat their
wastewater employing the anaerobic biological process. A by-product of this process is biogas,
which contains methane gas. The simple molecular structure of methane gas makes it the
cleanest gas in use today. The gas is recovered by the breweries and used as fuel for their boiler
units. A total of 25,940,173.

Environmental Forum
CTS-EMG organizes the quarterly Environmental Forum, which started in 1998. The
forum is designed for SMC staff responsible for pollution management and control, particularly
the Pollution Control Officer. Its purpose is to broaden knowledge of environmental laws,
technology updates, waste management, and operation of waste treatment facilities.

Reference:

Beltran, M., Ruiz, A., & Guarin, M. (2020, April 13). Philippines Government and Institution
measures in response to COVID-19. Retrieved November 21, 2020, from
 https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2020/04/philippines-government-and-institution-
measures-in-response-to-covid.html

Environmental and Other Programs. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2020, from
https://www.sanmiguel.com.ph/page/environmental-and-other-programs

Sustainability in the time of COVID-19: SMC to buy up plastic wastes to power cement
facilities. (2020, October 22). Retrieved November 21, 2020, from
https://www.sanmiguel.com.ph/article/sustainability-in-the-time-of-covid-19-smc-to-buy-
up-plastic-wastes-to-power-cement-facilities