Where Part of Your Fee Goes

For a long time now, PhilMovies.com has taken it upon itself to embark on a humanitarian mission in the Philippines. Itself being Filipino, PhilMovies.com feels and believes that the good life in America should not at all isolate us from our suffering brethren in the homeland. Rather, in the face of the obtaining poverty and depression, it should awaken human compassion within us. It should all the more spur us into action, into extending a helping hand to our less fortunate countrymen.

In the field of education alone, we could already see the glaring abomination that deters the intellectual advancement of Filipino students. While the majority of the world enjoy the advantages of computers, Philippine public schools still grapple with the old method and in some instances where there are computers, these PCs are in their decrepit state they’re not internet capable. And the ratio is around one PC per school of 600 students. Yet, despite this horrible situation, young Filipinos display exceptional ability in intellectual contests. What more if they had access to educational aids like computers. Especially so now that computers are getting to be the be-all and end-all and everything going global, we need to prepare our children, who will take care of our future.

Working closely with the Ayala Group, PhilMovies.com will donate $1.00 per sign-up per month to the Gilas Foundation in the Philippines. Gilas Foundation is a non-profit, non-government organization. It is the primary vehicle through which donations are funneled for the acquisition of much-needed books and computers for public schools.

GILAS (Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students) was conceived by a group of private sector leaders of like mind and mission: to raise the ante and cover the entire system of 5,433 public high schools in 5 years. Clearly, achieving that pace would require a much larger alliance of private corporation’s public and quasi-public organizations.

Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II, President and CEO of the Ayala Corporation, and Senator Manuel Roxas, the prime mover of the Personal Computers for Public Schools (PCPS) program when he was Trade and Industry Secretary are providing leadership for the consortium as Working Co-Chairs of the Steering Committee for GILAS. With the impeccable and unquestioned integrity of these leaders, we are assured of success. Out of the so many other well-intentioned literacy programs, the PhilMovies.com project offers greater chances of succeeding, as it provides access to more expatriates for their donation, and the sustained movie rental activity among members promises better odds in achieving the goal.

It is envisioned that the $1.00 donation out of the rental fee will generate funds that will provide substantial assistance to Philippine education. Through your help, we will accelerate development of our system of learning in the motherland. We will liberate education and guide it into the age of the internet. We will free our children from the shackles of ignorance. And we will be proud of them.

It is such sweet revenge that despite the want, the deprivation of helpful equipment, Filipino kids continue to dominate international competitions. Be it in the field of science, design, you name it, our children win it. This is a testament to the innate and unique talent of our race. Like the young tree that they are, let us nourish these children now and enjoy the fruits someday soon.

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