Ley La Salle’s Business Law Conference returned last July 20, gathering students and industry experts at the Natividad Fajardo-Rosales Gonzalez Auditorium for a series of talks and panel discussions centered around this year’s theme, “Balancing Profit and Planet.”
A social responsibility
Palawan NGO Network Incorporated Executive Director Atty. Bobby Chan kicked off the conference by narrating his experience as an environmental defender and discussing the role of active enforcement in protecting the environment. Chan urged both organizations and individuals to act on the matter, highlighting that legal mechanisms alone are insufficient without societal participation.
Meanwhile, Deivid Rioferio, the public affairs manager at World Vision Development Foundation Inc., underscored the advantages of recognizing corporate social responsibility (CSR) for businesses. He detailed that targeting root problems, involving all necessary stakeholders in business decisions, and ensuring proper government enforcement are key to implementing effective CSR that benefit both business and the environment.
In a panel discussion, Natural Resources and Environmental Law Lecturer at the Ateneo School of Law and Manuel L. Quezon University Atty. Gregorio Bueta discussed the realities of sustainability within business.
“We cannot deny that businesses are in the business of making profit…but the reality is we live in a world wherein corporations do not operate in a vacuum. How do we go beyond just maximizing profit and being able to say [that corporations] are going towards sustainability and actually caring for [the] planet,” Bueta explained.
Atty. Josine Alexandra Gamboa, chief of staff to the chairperson and CEO of the Energy Regulatory Commission, echoed Bueta’s sentiments and mentioned that businesses are beginning to realize this responsibility.
“There really has been a paradigm shift [that] now allows corporations to realize and to have those conversations with their directors, officers, stakeholders, [and] shareholders what exactly it means for them to balance…not just [the] planet [with] profit [but] with everything else,” Gamboa expounded.
Not an easy transition
Technology can play a crucial role in the shift toward sustainable practices, according to Atty. A. Bayani Tan, founding partner of Tan Venturanza Valdez Law Offices. However, the financial burden of greener technology has made business owners hesitant to invest.
“In many industries, the transition toward greener technologies would be more expensive…It’s natural for businesses to look for economic incentives, but they also have to be patient with waiting for the payoffs,” Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business Assistant Professorial Lecturer Liza Mae Fumar implored.
Fumar added that businesses may also explore alternative approaches to please the growing concern for the environment while also finding profitable market opportunities.
Unemployment following the transition may also be a problem with the integration of technology. “What’s going to happen with the people that lose their jobs? Would they be able to ride the opportunities being brought by new technologies,” Bueta asked the crowd.
Despite the complexities brought by pursuing a sustainable future, the panel affirmed that genuine stakeholder engagement would be the best gauge of balancing profit and planet.
“To have genuine stakeholder engagement, we need to focus on two things. First, companies need to be honest when they engage with their stakeholders, [as] many companies are accused of greenwashing…Second, I think companies need to be more conscious about respecting human rights…That’s where the transparency [and] genuine engagement with stakeholders would come,” Gamboa pointed out.
