San Miguel Corporation’s story is not just of building businesses. It is a testimony to cultivating bonds of trust and friendship.

Visit the office of Mayor Thadeo Z. Ouano, father of Mandaue City sometime. As he shakes your hand, he will invite you to taste the local delicacies: massareal, peanut pastilles that are sweet and inviting; bibingka ng Mandaue, rice cakes carefully cooked between coals; tagaktak, crisp noodle triangles that captivate at first bite. Then he’ll treat you to sikwati and budbud kabug, thick native chocolate drink and steamed dawa seed rolls. In the late afternoon, he will ask you to taste Tubig Mandaue (Mandaue Water).

“Here in Mandaue City, we refer to San Miguel Beer as Tubig Mandaue,” Mayor Ouano said as he welcomed foreign dignitaries into his office. “We consider it a product made in Mandaue. In fact, the San Miguel Mandaue Complex is a city landmark that makes us proud. It symbolizes Mandaue’s industry and the Mandauehanon’s spirit of progress.”

The city is host to many of our plants in the Visayas. The biggest complex outside Luzon houses the San Miguel Beer Brewery, San Miguel Packaging Products Plants, Beverage Packaging Specialists Plant, Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, and Logistics Asia Mega warehouses, corporate offices, and service units. The Company has certainly laid a firm foundation in Mandaue.

Apart from the offices within the SMC Mandaue complex, the city is home to the Poultry Products Plant, Ginebra San Miguel, Inc., Philippine Beverage Partners Plant, and the offices of B-Meg, PhilBev, and Purefoods. It is also where one of our corporate-managed Monterey Meatshops is located.

History shows that the establishment of the Mandaue Brewery and the San Miguel Glass Plant in 1968 spurred the influx of industries in the then quiet municipality. Prospecting investors and entrepreneurs gained confidence in SMC’s decision to set its base in the community. This eventually catapulted the municipality into the status of a city by August of 1969.

Continuing progress evolved the image of Mandaue from a manufacturing belt into an industrial metropolis. Still teaming up with the local government and the communities, San Miguel continues its leadership role in fostering development in the area, bringing in mutual benefits. People hold both its products and emblem in high regard.

The mayor said, “Among gyud ning gi pasigarbo ang atong beer ug ang ubang produkto sa San Miguel. Kay ato gud ni. Ang San Miguel sama sa usa miyembro sa atong pamilya. Ni-a taga Mandaue gyud. Ato gyud ning i-dalit ug ipadala pa gani sa atong mga bisita kay makasiguro man ta sa kalidad.” (“We always take pride in San Miguel’s beer and other products because we see SMC as our very own—like a member of our family, a fellow native of Mandaue. When we have guests, we offer San Miguel products because we are assured of its quality.”) He added, “Its products aside, San Miguel has been a solid partner in our development programs. They support our plans and we work very well together.” Events like fiestas, foundation day, Mantawi Festival, Mandaue Business Month, and barangay gatherings showcase San Miguel’s food-and-beverage offerings as products of choice for every celebration. The communities, in turn, demonstrate product loyalty.

Gumereinda Sericon, president of Barangay Tipolo’s Reflexotherapists Association said, “Kung maghanda mi sa amo ang among gamiton Coke gyud ug Red Horse Beer. Sa ubang mga birthday, mga Funchum ug Eight O’ Clock. Para sa ako lang, ang produkto sa San Miguel mao na gyu’y pinakanindot. Pinakalami. Nganong mupili pa man ug uban? Gawas pa, ang San Miguel ra gyud ang napakbana sa among kahimtang. Gi tagaan mi sa kumpanya ug higayon aron makahimo mi ug kalambuan sa among panginabuhi pina-agi sa ilang mga community projects.” (“We serve Coke and Red Horse Beer or Funchum and Eight O’ Clock during parties. For me, San Miguel products are the best and the besttasting. Besides, San Miguel cares about us, giving us livelihood opportunities through community projects.”) In the stewardship of our environment, SMC works closely with non-government organizations and government institutions. Metro Cebu Water District Manager for External Relations and environment advocate Atty. Alex Tolentino said, “The Company sincerely works for a better environment and practices integrity in its business commitments. It is always worthwhile to partner with SMC for our projects.” Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Eric Mendoza similarly counts SMC as their No. 1 supporter for many of their own projects. “SMC is the best industry model not only for product excellence and business performance but also for community service and environmental involvement.”

In the exercise of corporate social responsibility, working with communities is its own reward—seeing faces alight with hope, lives changed for the better, helplessness replaced with confidence. When people declare support for our businesses because they believe not only in our products but also in the soul of the Company, partnerships can only run deep.