Banatao, Lhuillier, Pacquiao are 3 of Forbes Asia’s ‘40 Heroes of Philanthropy’

Forbes Asia singled out the region's most noteworthy givers, a list of 40 people – sometimes including their spouses or siblings – for having compiled a long record of supporting worthy causes.

 

Three of such people come from the Philippines: technology entrepreneur Diosdado Banatao, P.J. Lhuillier Group Chairman P.J. Lhuillier, and boxing champion and Congressman Manny Pacquiao.

 

"As with every year, some of our honorees are billionaires who have built wealthy foundations, launched big projects and are now coming to terms with their legacy. Others are less well-known business people who are also making a mark with their generosity," according to Forbes Asia.

 

Banatao, 69, is the founder and managing partner of Tallwood Venture Capital.

 

"The technology entrepreneur and son of a farmer set up his Philippine Development Foundation in 2010 and has given it more than $1.5 million to reduce poverty through education, innovation and entrepreneurship," Forbes Asia noted in the September 2015 edition that carries the magazine's ninth annual philanthropy issue.

 

"The family-run Salvador & Rosita Banatao Foundation, named for his parents, assists students in his hometown of Iguig in the northern Philippines. It helped build a science and computer center at his elementary school and provides financial aid and scholarships to high school and university students with potential in science."

 

Lhuillier, 70, started what is now the Cebuana Lhuillier Foundation in 2000, Forbes Asia noted in the report, "In Asia, 40 Heroes of Philanthropy Are Making Their Mark."

 

The foundation "... offers 300 college scholarships to impoverished students nationwide and has enabled thousands of school dropouts to restart their education through 19 Alternative Learning Centers that it’s started in public schools," Forbes Asia noted.

 

Forbes Asia said 48 more learning centers will open next year. 

 

Aiming to inspire millions of people, Lhuillier also launched the 'Search for the Happiest Pinoy' campaign. Every other year, starting in 2009, it has awarded $20,000 to an individual who has risen above life’s challenges and whose positive outlook has improved the lives of others.

 

Pacquiao, 36, and his wife started the Emmanuel & Jinkee's Heart Foundation last year. 

 

So far, the foundation has awarded more than 200 scholarships and extended more than $400,000 in medical assistance to needy people.

 

"Outside the foundation he spends $400,000 a year on college costs for 1,000 students and has helped fund the construction of hundreds of houses – mostly in the southern end of the country, where he is from – with Habitat for Humanity Philippines," Forbes Asia noted.

 

"He has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to relief funds after devastating typhoons in the last three years," the magazine added.

 

Forbes Asia said the list is not of the biggest givers in Asia-Pacific, noting the figures would be impossible to collect. It tries to identify a new group each year, though a few people are returning to the list because of an important contribution or project announced over the past year. 

 

"The goal is to pick only true philanthropists – people who are giving their own money, not their company’s (unless they own most of the company), because donating shareholder funds isn’t exactly philanthropy.

 

"By calling attention to these charitable souls and their labors of love, we hope to encourage more giving," it added. – VS/KG, GMA News