“Bigay Liwanag”, Awarding of Eyeglasses, General Maximino Hizon Elementary School, Tondo, Manila. Last Row (L-R) First Metro Investment Corporation Senior Corporate Advisor Francisco G. Co, Manila City Mayor Alfredo S. Lim and First Metro Investment President Francisco C. Sebastian.

First Metro Investment’s “Bigay Liwanag” Benefits Tondo Pupils

Despite heavy rains in Metro Manila last August 5, 2008, it was a bright day for vision impaired students of the Gen. Maximino Hizon Elementary School in Jose Abad Santos Avenue in Tondo. First Metro Investment, the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, donated eye glasses to 116 vision impaired pupils of the school in connection with its “Bigay Liwanag Project (BLP).”

The “Bigay Liwanag Project” is one of the corporate social responsibility initiatives of First Metro Investment on education. Conceived by one of its senior officials, Mr. Francisco G. Co, the project is designed to enable vision impaired public school children read and study better by donating eye glasses.

The first phase of the project was held last July 3, when First Metro Investment with the help of Eyeneeds Optical, a Manila-based optical shop, performed the refraction for the students of the school who were having difficulty reading. Awarding of the eyeglasses was held on August 5, during a formal ceremony attended by the Gen. M. Hizon School teachers, students, parents, the senior management of First Metro Investment, as well as Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim, who helped distribute the eye glasses to the kids.

“Makakakita na sila (meaning the students) nang ‘di kailangan lumapit pa sa harapan (ng klase) at makakapagbasa na sila nang mabuti,” (They will be able to see better and read more clearly.) said Ms. Remia Guevarra, School Principal in her thank you speech.

Gen. M. Hizon Elementary School is the first beneficiary of the BLP but First Metro Investment plans to help other public school children in Binondo and Makati, which are the company’s immediate communities. “We look back at our roots, our parents were once public school teachers and some of our senior officials studied in public schools. That was why we chose to help this segment of the society,” said First Metro Investment President Francisco C. Sebastian.