Disaster relief led San Miguel Foundation’s nationwide initiatives in 2025

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San Miguel Foundation (SMF), the social development arm of San Miguel Corporation, said disaster relief accounted for the largest share of its activities in 2025 following a series of major calamities, even as it sustained community programs in health, nutrition, education and food security nationwide.

 

The foundation reported reaching about 192,000 marginalized and displaced Filipinos during the year, with disaster response generating the highest number of beneficiaries due to the scale of its relief operations.

 

SMF’s nationwide Team Malasakit employee-volunteer network distributed food, water and other essential supplies to at least 156,760 people affected by multiple typhoons, earthquakes in Cebu and Bacolod, and a major fire in Tondo, Manila.

“We deployed as much assistance and volunteers as we could to respond to our countrymen in times of need, while continuing to strengthen programs designed to provide longer-term support,” said SMC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang.

 

Participation increased across SMF’s Better World Centers, which anchor its community programs in some of the country’s most underserved areas.

 

At Better World Tondo and Better World Smokey Mountain, SMF delivered food assistance alongside education, livelihood and health interventions for families in urban poor communities, including learning support for children and skills training for parents.

 

At Better World Cubao, the foundation ran year-long programs for women, including learning sessions, mental health discussions and digital literacy classes, supported by volunteer engagement. The center also hosted medical and laboratory services for women through the government’s Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Services (BUCAS) Center, operated in partnership with Quirino Memorial Medical Center.

 

“This helps close gaps in access to healthcare for underserved communities,” Ang said, noting that a fully operational BUCAS Center is now serving patients at Better World Smokey Mountain.

 

Healthcare services expanded nationwide, with SMF’s Better World Clinics growing to nine sites in 2025 and serving active patients through consultations, diagnostics and medicine distribution.

 

Nutrition programs were sustained through the First 1,000 Days initiative for mothers and infants, implemented with local governments, while food security efforts continued through the Backyard Bukid program, which supports community-based food production.

 

SMF also continued feeding and education programs in institutional settings, including at the New Bilibid Prison, where meals and learning support were provided during the year.

 

Volunteer engagement across SMC’s business units totaled about 57,000 hours in 2025, supporting hundreds of outreach activities nationwide.

 

 

PHOTOS:

SMC Chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang visited Cebu, where Team Malasakit employee-volunteers distributed food packs for earthquake victims.

   

Team Malasakit prepared hot meals for typhoon Uwan victims in Quezon City, under Better World Diliman’s food rescue initiative.

 

 

Better World Bilibid funded a fully-equipped computer room and upgraded other facilities at the school operating at the Medium Security Compound of the New Bilibid Prison.

 

Valentine Symphony of Flavors: Summit Hotel Greenhills Debuts an Artistic 7-Course Culinary Journey

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February 2026, Manila - This Valentine season, Café Summit at Summit Hotel Greenhills invites couples and food enthusiasts to experience "Valentine Symphony of Flavors," an exclusive 7-course tasting menu available for dinner on February 13 and 14, 2026. This unique celebration features coffee as a "secret ingredient" to transform the ordinary into savory and sweet masterpieces.

“We want to showcase how elevated the Filipino culinary craft can be,” says Chef Ace Barsaga, Head Chef of Café Summit Greenhills. “By using coffee as a spice and a source of depth, we’ve created a symphony of flavors that feels both playful and deeply romantic. It’s a celebration of love through the lens of art and flavor.”

As a teaser, the chef reveals a few dishes comprising the curated collection: Ember-roasted Cabbage, Red Pepper and Coffee Emulsion; Mocha-Rubbed Filet Mignon, and to finish, an indulgent Espresso and Mascarpone Mousse.

Mocha-Rubbed Filet Mignon at Café Summit Greenhills

The special Valentine menu is available by reservation only at PhP 1,800 nett per person. For those seeking hands-on experience, an exclusive Coffee Art Workshop will be held for diners on February 13 only, 6:00 PM, during which participants will learn the techniques of coffee painting from Coffee Artists PH (CAPH). The session will transition directly into the 7-course dinner at 7:00 PM.

For table reservations, contact numbers are 8898 5200 and (0919) 078 0790. Summit Hotel Greenhills is located at 13 Annapolis Street, Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila. It is one of the hotels under the Summit Hotels and Resorts brand of Robinsons Hotels and Resorts, the hospitality arm of Robinsons Land Corporation.  

Valentine Symphony of Flavors is a direct extension of Summit Hotel Greenhills’ commitment to the local creative community--a culinary tribute to the coffee art exhibition on public display at the Red Gallery of the hotel until March 14, 2026

Cover Photo caption:

Espresso and Mascarpone Mousse at Café Summit Greenhills

For more information or images, please contact:

MS. GENNY PUNO

Director of Marketing

Genny.Puno@robinsonsland.com

Record funding, historic firsts redefine DepEd under PBBM and Sec. Angara

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MAKATI CITY, 30 January 2026 - Long-identified reforms in basic education are now moving into full implementation as the Department of Education (DepEd) rolls out structural changes backed by its largest budget in history, under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and the leadership of Education Secretary Sonny Angara.



With the start of fiscal year 2026, DepEd is implementing reforms that had long been recommended but repeatedly delayed, enabled by a P1.3-trillion national allocation for the education sector—equivalent to 4.36% of gross domestic product and the first time the Philippines has exceeded global benchmarks for education spending. The 2026 allocation also represents the biggest year-on-year increase for education, with DepEd’s budget rising by about 30%.

“We will continue building on the progress that we have made and strengthening our efforts so that all Filipino learners receive the quality education that they deserve and that they rightly expect,” President Marcos said as he received the EDCOM II Final Report on Thursday.

Under Angara, several long-pending reforms moved into implementation for the first time, including the expansion of the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP), which increased from P3.3 billion in 2022 to P25.7 billion in 2026. The increase enables the first universal feeding coverage for all Kindergarten and Grade 1 learners nationwide, institutionalizing nutrition as a core education input.


Learning recovery has likewise shifted from emergency response to system-level intervention through the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, implemented nationwide in School Year 2025–2026 with a focus on reading. Within three months, ARAL posted measurable gains in reading readiness across Grades 3 to 10.


To sustain these gains, P8.93 billion has been allocated for the ARAL Program in School Year 2026–2027, supporting the training and compensation of more than 440,000 DepEd and non-DepEd tutors and reaching an estimated 6.7 million learners in reading and mathematics.


Teacher career reform has also moved at scale through the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) System, a long-awaited policy aimed at clearing promotion backlogs and recognizing classroom excellence. Under the current rollout, more than 16,000 teachers have already been promoted, with an additional 41,000 applications under processing. DepEd is targeting the promotion of around 100,000 teachers this year, marking a historic milestone in teacher career advancement.


The 2026 budget allocation also reflects the Marcos administration’s commitment to address the country’s classroom gap. Angara pushed for flexibility for classroom construction to be undertaken by local government units and civil society organizations, reflecting an all-hands-on-deck approach to strengthening basic education infrastructure in support of human capital development. Meanwhile, funding for the Last Mile Schools Program doubled to P3 billion in 2026 from P1.5 billion in 2022, prioritizing geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.


In addition, DepEd, for the first time, has adopted a 16-year-old executive order on the procurement of bamboo-made school furniture, supporting faster classroom equipping, cost efficiency, and local manufacturing.


Alongside education reforms, the administration has strengthened school-based access to health services through expanded YAKAP caravans of DepEd and PhilHealth, bringing primary care services closer to learners and school personnel, particularly in underserved communities.


“Ang mahalaga ngayon ay tuloy-tuloy ang pagpapatupad. Hindi na ito plano lamang—nasa silid-aralan na ang reporma, ramdam ng guro, at may malinaw na epekto sa pagkatuto ng bata,” Angara said.


The reform agenda builds on priorities set early in President Marcos Jr.’s term and aligns with the EDCOM 2 Final Report, which highlighted the depth of the learning crisis and the need for sustained, long-term action beyond political cycles. Recommendations on learning recovery, nutrition, teacher support, and infrastructure are now being translated into funded programs and operational reforms.