Employees and executives of the Alsons Power Group warmly received Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz when she paid a courtesy call to Alsons Power top management at the Makati City headquarters of Mindanao’s first and most experienced independent power producer.

Prior to her departure to compete in the women’s 53-kg weightlifting category in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil, Diaz as well as her national weightlifting team compatriot Nestor Colonia and coach Alfonsito Aldanete received a cash donation from the power company, whose subsidiaries Western Mindanao Power Corporation and San Ramon Power Inc. are both located in Zamboanga City where Diaz hails from.

Hidilyn Diaz pays courtesy call on Alsons Power Group
L-R) Alsons Power Group’s Corporate Communications Manager Oscar Benedict Contreras III, Philippine Weightlifting Coach Alfonsito Aldenete, Philippine Olympic Weightlifting Athlete Nestor Colonia, Olympic Weightlifting Silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, Zamboanga City Coucilor Bong Atilano and Alsons Power Group’s CEO and EVP Tirso Santillan Jr.

During the courtesy call, Alsons Power also announced the launch of the Alsons Power Hidilyn Diaz Scholarship for deserving student athletes who are in training to be competitive weightlifters.  This scholarship will pay for the full tuition and provide a stipend to cover uniforms and schools supplies. This will initially be granted to needy aspiring weightlifter student athletes from Zamboanga City.   Hidilyn’s feat ended the 20-year medal drought of the Philippines, and also marked several firsts in the country’s sports history. Diaz is the first Filipina and Mindanaoan to win an Olympic medal, and her silver is the first outside of boxing – the sport that gave the country its two other Olympic silvers with Anthony Villanueva in 1964 and Mansueto Velasco in 1996.

According to Alsons Power Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Tirso G. Santillan, Jr., the Alsons Power Hidilyn Diaz Scholarship is a testimony to the power company’s commitment to education as the centerpiece of its corporate social responsibility programs. Believing that education plays a pivotal role in community development and poverty alleviation efforts, the power company has been providing scholarships to the top 10 honor students at schools located in the areas where the company is present. 

Since the scholarship program’s launch in 2014, over 4,000 honor students from within and around the areas where the group’s various power facilities operate have benefited. These are the Southern Philippines Power Corporation in Alabel, Sarangani; the Sarangani Energy Corp. in Maasim, Sarangani Province; and the Western Mindanao Power Corporation and the San Ramon Power Inc. both in Zamboanga City.