THE THIRD week of January is officially the Philippines’ National Autism Consciousness Week, as per Proclamation NO. 711, signed by former president Fidel V. Ramos. As part of the celebrations, SM Cares, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of SM Supermalls, and the Autism Society Philippines (ASP) will be holding the annual Angels Walk for Autism on Jan. 26 at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in Pasay City, with gates opening at 6:30 a.m.

The Angels Walk for Autism will start at the MOA Arena and will end at the SM MOA Music Hall. The SM MoA complex has been hosting the event since 2007, and the number of participants — consisting of families, professionals, supporters, employees from the different business units of SM, and advocates from the public and private sectors —has grown from 200 in 2007 to 24,000 last year.

“There was a concerted effort from both SM Cares and the Autism Society Philippines to reach out to as many communities as possible, with the aim of raising awareness and acceptance, and promoting inclusion for persons with autism,” said SM Cares Assistant Vice-President, CSR Marketing Chito Bauzon in an e-mail to BusinessWorld. “Since SM started hosting Angels Walk, and the malls have become a second home for Filipinos, these activities that are held within the business environments of SM have allowed hundreds and thousands of shoppers to know more about autism.

“There also was a strong internal campaign of SM Cares, to its employees, so the advocacy became very visible, and common knowledge for all,” he said.

“Lastly — and most importantly — the drive to care for persons with disabilities has been very apparent from the leadership of Mr. Hans Sy, SM Prime Holdings Chairman of the Executive Committee. His leadership with a heart serves as an inspiration for Management and employees in supporting PWDs especially in communities where we are present.”

“Our ultimate goal is to achieve a completely autism-friendly Philippines,” said Mona Magno-Veluz, National President of Autism Society Philippines said. “We have made great strides in making Filipinos more accepting of those with autism and we hope that through events like the Angels Walk for Autism, we can continue to make the Philippines a place where every individual that has autism is valued, loved, and treated with dignity.”

In connection to that, Mr. Bauzon discussed the partnership between SM Cares and the ASP: “SM Cares supports ASP, amongst many other PWD organizations, in our bid to make every SM Mall, a mall for all. And a mall for all means inclusivity for everyone, including persons with disability (PWD). SM advocates for a barrier-free and disability inclusive environment so that everyone can enjoy the same fun and leisure as anyone would do. We offer our malls and other business establishments as a venue for ASP and other sector partners, as a channel for awareness, for discussion and to create opportunities for inclusion. Aside from Angels Walk happening at the Mall of Asia Arena, it also happens in other SM Malls across the country. You get more people aware — you get more people to talk about the advocacy.”

Simultaneous autism walks are also scheduled in SM City Bacolod, SM City Cebu, SM City Lucena, SM Olongapo Central, and SM City Davao.

“Our advocacies include programs on PWDs, the environment, senior citizens, women, breastfeeding mothers, and the youth,” Mr. Bauzon said, discussing other projects with which SM Cares is involved. They also partner with the Down Syndrome Association of the Philippines and host their annual Happy Walk for Down Syndrome (also held in several malls across the country). They also hold special movie screenings for blind and deaf students, using films with audio description and closed captioning.

They’re also responsible for the Emergency Preparedness Forum for PWDs and Senior Citizens.

Going past the walk and the special weeks and days designated to promote awareness to PWDs, can SM say that it provides a PWD-friendly environment in its facilities for the rest of the year? Mr. Bauzon said, “We ensure that our malls have facilities and features that make our business environments accessible and safe for PWDs. Our malls have striven to go beyond compliance to the Accessibility Law, which gave us the Hall of Fame recognition by the Apolinario Mabini Awards. On top of the physical attributes, SM has been training its mall frontliners — security guards, maintenance personnel, tenants and employees — on how to interact and handle persons with special needs. The bid for inclusivity goes beyond the physical structure, but is well embedded in the company culture. We all take inspiration from our Founder, the late Henry Sy Sr., and his son, Mr. Hans Sy, Chairman of the Executive Committee of SM Prime Holdings, who place a lot of premium in serving the Filipino people.”

“SM supports communities and does its best to serve every Filipino. Serving the public means serving everyone, including those who have physical or mental challenges. We see our malls as having a unique position and opportunity for the community to know about social issues. For most, if not all, SM has become a community center where families and friends gather, celebrate and enjoy life. This has now become a staple in Filipino culture — which all the more means that we should do our part as a member of the community — to promote inclusivity. It would be great if we get more citizens and companies to move together in a unified direction in promoting inclusivity, appreciation and acceptance of PWDs,” said Mr. Bauzon.

To know more about the event, visit www.autismsocietyphilippines.org. To register for the walk, visit https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/asp-angels-walk-for-autism-2020-tickets-77643546939. — JLG

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