Lafarge

All Together Now!

Unity. Indomitable spirit. Iron will. Respect for others. All these, harnessed in perfect synergy, make up the ingredients for a winning team in a dragon boat race. And where else are these fiery qualities more needed than now, as we face exciting challenges in Excellence 2008 – and we can only achieve our commitments by moving forward in one direction, at the same pace, moving at the same speed.

The Excellence 2008 dragon boat logo, together with our aligned key priorities, was the theme of the annual Advance Day held last February 13 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza. Over 100 managers from all the Lafarge Associated Companies gathered together to rally behind the company vision – to be the undisputed leader in the Philippine cement industry.

Why Excellence 2008? Because we need to be more competitive, particularly now as we face the threat of imports from outside our shores. Also, competitors from within are increasing in number, and threatening our market leadership. For us to compete successfully, we have to:

Be world-class in safety performance
Manufacture high quality products
Be responsive to our customers’ needs
Be available when and where our products are needed
Reduce cost
Develop our people

Excellence 2008 is a drive to improve performance. Safety not only becomes a priority but a core value. Teams strive to deliver results both in operations and finance and commitments are achieved by developing an effective organization.

So, are you on the boat to excellence?

Boarding the Excellence 2008 boat – A show of hands on the Commitment Board

MainFlash_Editable

Lafarge Sustains Green Campaign at Ipo Watershed

Republic Cement Corporation- Norzagaray Plant, a Lafarge Associated Company (LAC), recently responded to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' (DENR) Trees for Life Campaign by planting 1,000 hardwood trees and adopting a portion of the critically endangered Ipo Watershed in Norzagaray, Bulacan. Employee-volunteers from Lafarge's head office as well as its Republic Cement Corp. Bulacan Plant also joined the event in partnership with Hands On Manila Foundation, Manila Water Company, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), and the Norzagaray local government. Shown with the volunteers (middle) are Lizza Vicaldo, plant manager of Republic Cement Corp Norzagaray, and Joel Lacsamana, LAC vice president for corporate communications, presenting a narra seedling to a local Dumagat ranger at the watershed.

Mindanao Portland Donates Additional 5 Houses to Gawad Kalinga

A small miracle unfolded at Sitio Tag-Ibo, Barangay Dalipuga, just outside Iligan City, when Mindanao Portland Cement Corporation (MPCC) turned over 5 newly-built Gawad Kalinga (GK) houses to its proud owners in what is now known as GK Mindanao Portland Tag-Ibo Village.

EXCOM walks through the GK site with Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Lluch Cruz

Lafarge Supports Earthbag School Project

Last July 13, Illac Diaz and the Ateneo-based NGO ABAKADA, in partnership with the Japanese Embassy and Lafarge Cement inaugurated the first-in-the-world Earthbag School. Governor Ace Barbers Surigao City Mayor Pons Casurra were on hand to receive the project.

My Shelter's Illac Diaz (left) explaining the Earthbag Technology to Surigao Governor Robert Ace Barbers and Japanese Embassy's Economic Minister Akira Sugiyama.

Weep no more for the Nation’s Masons

The Mason Kaakbay Safety Program was launched last June 27 at the Trader’s Hotel in Manila, and was hosted by “Unang Hirit” show host Suzie Entrata-Abrera. The guests of honor were Occupational Safety & Health Center Executive Director Dr. Dulce Estrella-Gust, Philam Insurance President and CEO Anton Du Plessis, and the first batch of masons receiving the life insurance certificates.

From left, RCC President Reinier Dizon, Philam Insurance President & CEO Anton Du Plessis, mason beneficiary Victor Alvarado, and LCSPI Sales VP Cirilo Pestaño, imprint their hands on cement as a show of commitment to masons’ safety.

Through hardware store-based seminars to be conducted nationwide, masons will learn how to protect themselves better from work hazards with the observance of proper procedures and use of proper safety equipment like hardhats, gloves, and shoes. After each seminar, Lafarge and Philam Insurance through Jardine Lloyd Thompson Insurance Brokers, Inc. will award “graduating” masons life insurance certificates with an added medical reimbursement benefit.

Performance Awards 2006: We Won!!!

Our Behavioral Safety Program won 1st Prize for being the Best Safety Behavior Improvement Initiative. The award was given by Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont and received by LCSPI Industrial SVP Mike Watson and LCSPI President Samir Cairae.

The Fortune Batangas plant won the Region Award for BEST IMPROVEMENT IN KILN RELIABILITY. Guillaume Roux hands the award to FCC Plant Manager Hongki Kim.

The Lafarge Performance Awards is an annual Cement Division-wide program where business units are rewarded for their best results in key areas of operations, especially those in line with the Cement Division’s performance ambitions and Excellence 2008. The awards for 2006 were given during the Performance & Excellence Day held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last March 14, 2007.