Mighty Corporation and Wong Chu King Foundation Pursues Social Responsibility Projects

La Union Bishop Rodolfo Beltran has commended Wong Chu King Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of local cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp for helping the church to spread the faith in the Philippines and for prioritizing apostolic works and education in its programs and projects.

According to Beltran, the foundation has so far funded the education of poor but deserving students in Lagawe, Bontoc including four seminarians and other students of vocational courses like sewing, weaving and hairstyling.

“The parents of these students are low-income farmers producing only for local consumption, so you can imagine the positive impact this kind of support has for them.”  the Bishop said.

Beltran also commended Mighty Corporation and Wong Chu King Foundation for their outreach project that aims to benefit 65,000 organized tobacco farmers of Northern Luzon.

The bishop has witnessed the signing of the project agreement between Mighty Corporation and 200 farmer leaders of the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers and Cooperatives Inc. (NAFTAC) from Pangasinan, La Union, Abra, Cagayan, Isabela, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur at a hotel here recently.

Under the agreement, Mighty Corp will donate to the farmers 16 hand tractors worth P2.5 million and 90 irrigation pumps worth P1.1 million.

“I’m quite happy about all these projects. It’s a big lift for our farmers, not only in La Union but also the whole of Northern Luzon,” Beltran said. “This is something very beautiful as the hand tractors and water pumps encourage our farmers to use modern methods of agriculture.” he added.

Auxiliary Bishop of Tuguegarao Ricardo Baccay described Mighty Corp and Wong Chu King Foundation's work as “a step in the right direction."

“For many years, I have personally known Mrs. Nelia Wong Chu King, Wong Chu King Foundation chairman of the board of trustees,” said Archbishop Emeritus Diosdado Talamayan of Tuguegarao City. “She and her family are great devotees of the Our Lady of Piat, and they have erected a chapel in Malolos City, Bulacan, dedicated to the Our Lady of Piat, which was blessed by many bishops led by Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales in 2012.”

Created in 1990, Mighty Corporation's Wong Chu King Foundation aims to perpetuate the memory of Wong Chu King, the family patriarch, an avowed philanthropist who was concerned for the plight of, and provided timely assistance to, the poor and underprivileged during his lifetime. The foundation also aims to encourage and promote education through scholarship programs and raise funds for charitable, cultural and educational purposes.

Mighty Corporation and Wong Chu King Foundation Backs Seismic Retrofitting of Historic Churches

Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp with the help of their CSR arm Wong Chu King Foundation, pushes forward in assisting various historical churches in their renovation projects.

The Catholic clergy on the other hand fully supports the project of Mighty Corporation and Wong Chu King Foundation for the seismic retrofitting of historic churches in Philippines

The foundation has so far assisted the Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Church in Naic, Cavite and the Basilica Minore of the Our Lady of Piat Church in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.

Auxiliary Bishop Ricardo Baccay of Tuguegarao City, described Mighty Corp's work as “a step in the right direction.”

"My diocese, like all dioceses, have serious concerns. If Mighty Corp and Wong Chu King Foundation is out to help, retrofitting historic churches is one of the best forms of help it can give.” Baccay said in a statement released by the foundation.

"Churches are also symbols of strength and hope for Filipinos. To see a church survive earthquakes and other calamities can easily uplift the spirits of our people,” said Wong Chu King Foundation General Manager James Vincent Navarette.

“The devastation brought about by the recent Visayas earthquake has firmed up our advocacy to build more churches and strengthen the Filipino faith. However, we also understand that this is not enough. We have to make sure that the design and structure of these buildings, particularly the old and existing ones, are safe and resistant to calamities such as earthquakes.” Navarette added.

Seismic retrofitting is the process of remodeling structures to make them more resistant to damage brought about by earthquakes and other seismic activities.

Mighty Corporation through the Wong Chu King foundation has been renovating churches since 2009.  Last year, they have donated P300,000 for textbooks and other library materials for the Lyceum de Amulung in Cagayan North, Tuguegarao City.

The foundation is headed by Mrs. Nelia Wongchuking, Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Wong Chu King Foundation Restores Cavite Church and Preserves History

A duty to church and society!

This is how the Wong Chu King Foundation sees its group's mission in restoring historic churches and other religious structures.

Take for example the Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Concepcion of Mary in Naic, Cavite which the foundation, with the help of Mighty Corporation, has recently restored to its former glory in March this year.

As we all know, some of the Important events in the history of our nation took place inside the walls of our churches.  These landmarks played a vital role in the lives of many Filipinos and are enduring symbols of the Catholic faith in the Philippines.

The Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Concepcion of Mary is one of the oldest and largest church in the coastal town along Manila Bay and stood as a precious link to our ante-bellum Spanish colonial past.  Spanish friars built the church as a low-roofed stone structure in 1835 but was rebuilt and completed with a neo-Gothic convent complex in 1872. The church played a role in the fight of Filipinos for independence against Spanish, American and Japanese conquerors.

“We cannot allow this historic church to go into a state of disrepair,” said Alex Wongchuking, Executive Director of the Wong Chu King Foundation, which has devoted its resources to rebuilding churches in the country, helping the poor get education and doing other charitable works.

The Wong Chu King Foundation is the social arm of Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp, the first and only Filipino-owned cigarette manufacturing company in the Philippines. Wongchuking completed reconstruction work on the shrine last February and the official turn-over was held last March 30, on the occasion of the foundation’s 24th anniversary.

“The church strengthened the Filipino faith and it stands as a mute witness to the martyrdom of the defenders of Philippine freedom and nationhood,” Wongchuking said.

Cavite Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista said that the restoration of the church to its original architecture will “encourage people to grow in their faith, in a life of prayer and in a life of holiness, which is God’s desire for all of us.”

The Bishop also said that the roof and the walls of the shrine were crumbling and the church’s interior gradually deteriorating, Wong Chu King Foundation came like an answered prayer to them.

“With this beautiful church, one can say that the presence of God is really felt by the people,” Bishop Evangelista concluded.

Mrs. Nelia Dy Wongchuking, Wong Chu King Foundation President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, was born in Naic and has fond memories of the church of her youth.

The young Nelia met her husband, Wongchuking, in the church vicinity while the latter was selling cigarettes, and their love blossomed against the backdrop of this ancient and historical landscape.  Wongchuking later founded La Campana Fabrica de Tobacos shortly after the end of World War II.  Both Wongchuking and his wife, Nelia, were a simple, hard-working and religious couple. The Christian values they brought to their workplace shaped the company that is now known as Mighty Corporation.

Wongchuking died several years ago but his legacy lives through the foundation which was put up in 1990 to perpetuate his name through scholarship programs, cultural and charitable activities.

In addition to rebuilding the Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Concepcion of Mary, the foundation also built a new garden with a fountain for the parish, said Wong Chu King Foundation General Manager James Navarette said.

Mighty Corp President Edilberto Adan said the church was restored to its 19th century architectural design, but the scars made by cannon blasts on church walls were retained to preserve its history.