“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works,” said the character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film “Wall Street”.

 

However, President Benigno Aquino III said Thursday, “The people’s buying power grows, your businesses grow, the market grows, everybody wins!”

 

Aquino was urging companies, during the 11th CSR Expo and Conference of the League of Corporate Foundations, not just to outdo each other in marketing and advertising, but in corporate social responsibility as well.

 

“Many of us see, in traditional and social media, how your companies compete for attention and patronage by outspending each other in advertising and marketing. It would be nice to see a spending war in the area of corporate social responsibility. as well,” said Aquino.

 

Aquino reasoned that corporate aid would help marginalized sectors to gain more purchasing power to buy the companies’ goods and services. 

 

He noted that corporations should not separate their marketing operations from consumers and government, calling for corporations to tie up with government to come up with CSR programs in the future. 

 

“Let us talk. We will always be ready to work with corporations that want to go the extra mile to reach out and empower the people in their respective communities. We have always been about inclusive growth, and have always believed that a country must move forward together,” the President said. — MJC/DVM, GMA News