Continuing its commitment to giving persons with disability (PWD) equal opportunity in the workplace, Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc. (BAVI) recently renewed its partnership with Unilab Foundation for Project Inclusion.
Project Inclusion is a program which intends to give PWDs renewed hope and confidence in their talents and abilities by helping them obtain and sustain jobs in an actual work environment. Launched in 2013, it has since improved access to work opportunities of PWDs in both local and multinational companies from various fields.
Photo shows (L-R) Atty. Nedo Sasing, BAVI Vice President for HR, Legal and Corporate Administration; BAVI President and General Manager Ronald Mascariñas; and Unilab Foundation’s Grant Javier and Jaime Nemeño
BAVI, recipient of Investors in People Silver Accreditation for outstanding people management practices, firmly believes that each individual has unique skills and strengths to offer for the progress of the company. With the right condition and proper support, a disability – visible or not – should not be a hindrance in getting equal employment opportunity.
“By hiring PWDs, we have proved that it is not only beneficial to the person with disability but also to the team he belongs to and to the entire organization. For one, PWDs teach their colleagues the value of hard work and perseverance. Their lives may be difficult at some level, but it definitely has provided them a rich experience and pushed them to do better in life,” said Ronald Mascariñas, President and General Manager of BAVI.
(L-R) BAVI VP for HR, Legal and COrporte Admin Atty. Nedo Sasing, BAVI President and General Manager Ronald Mascariñas, Aljune Atok, Donna Tolentino, Grant Javier and Jaime Nemeño
BAVI first forged partnership with Unilab Foundation in 2016. This paved the way for the hiring of Aljune Atok, visually-impaired, and Donna Tolentino, hearing-impaired.
“I am happy about the renewal of partnership with Unilab Foundation because this gives the company another opportunity to hire PWDs with competent skills. This will also allow the company to continue what they have started – diversity and inclusion in the workplace,” said Atok.
Having been in the company for over a year, both have helped in raising awareness about PWDs. For its part, the company recently conducted a basic Filipino Sign Language workshop for the employees.
“The recently conducted seminar on Sign Language will facilitate the way the employees communicate with the deaf and I appreciate such effort. I hope that a seminar on Deaf Culture will also be given to the employees in the future, said Tolentino.
According to Mascariñas, beyond just providing fresh oven-roasted chickens to households, they want BAVI to be part of something more meaningful to society. “We are hopeful that with this partnership, we’ll be able to change the lives of some individuals and provide them something that they can take wherever they go,” he added.
BAVI is one of the fastest growing food retail company and the second largest poultry integrator in the country. It is the company behind roasted chicken brands Chooks-to-Go, Uling Roasters and Reyal.