The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) emerged as one of the top companies at the recently concluded 19th Philippine Quill Awards after the power distributor bagged 22 wins and the Company of the Year 1st Runner-up award.

Recognized for its internal and external communication programs, the Meralco Group won eight (8) Excellence Awards and 14 Merit Awards for various programs and initiatives on pandemic response centered on health and safety, customer-centricity, service excellence and stakeholder engagement.

“We have always been committed in creating communication plans and programs that help empower our customers and the public, most especially since the pandemic continues to pose challenges in our way of life. These said challenges invigorate us to strive harder because we firmly understand how crucial stable and reliable electricity service is in enabling work-from-home and online distance learning arrangements and in getting our responsibilities done,” said Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga.

“To be recognized as one of the top companies in communications is truly an honor and it pushes us to develop and implement more programs that will benefit our customers, our communities, and our country,” he added.

Among Meralco’s campaigns that received highest awards include those that ensured customers, stakeholders, and employees were protected, healthy and equipped with helpful information against the COVID-19 pandemic. “#AyokoMagViral: A Meralco internal campaign against COVID-19” under the Internal Communication category and “Safety First: Empowering Enterprises to Fight an Invisible Enemy” under the Safety Communication category received Excellence Awards on Communication Management.

Meralco’s initiative to make customer payment process more convenient via the “Fitting the Bill: Meralco makes paying bills easier with the Customer Account Number”, and its relentless efforts to ensure its external stakeholders remain safe and informed despite the pandemic through the “Meralco Power Up Live: Empowering Business Customers Amidst the Pandemic” both won Excellence Awards in the Customer Relations category.

Also recognized with an Excellence Award under the Customer Relations category was the “Safeguard the Economy at All Costs by Waiving Energy Demand Charge” program, which demonstrated Meralco’s efforts to support its business customers amid the global health crisis.

The Company’s push towards sustainable transportation through “Electric Motorcycle Deployment for Meralco Business Center Field Representatives” campaign likewise earned an Excellence Award in the Change Communication category.

Meralco PowerGen Corporation subsidiary Atimonan One Energy, Inc. (A1E), meaenwhile, received two (2) Excellence Awards under the Corporate Social Responsibility category. “Kaisa sa Kabuhayan: Aplaya Sardines Enterprise with Atimonan Fisherfolks” and “Kaisa sa Kalusugan radio health program” are both pandemic response programs that benefitted A1E’s host communities in Quezon province.

One Meralco Foundation (OMF), the company’s social development arm, bagged four (4) Merit awards for “Household Electrification Program: Powering-Up Communities Amidst the Pandemic”, “Meralco One for Trees: Helping Farmers Survive the Pandemic through Sustainable Reforestation”, COVIDCOMMS 2021: Farmers to Frontliners and Marginalized (F2FM) Project: Invigorating the Livelihood of Farmers”, and “Stronger Together-The 2020 MVP Academic Achievement Awards Virtual Ceremony”.

Other Meralco’s initiatives that received Merit citations were the following campaigns: “Unwavering Service and Malasakit amid the Pandemic and May-June 2021 Power Shortage”, “Providing Consumers the Power During Summer”, “Meralco Corporate Partners Viber Community – Engagement When Connectivity is a Must”, “Ensuring our Stakeholders are Informed Despite Social Distancing: Quarterly Operating and Financial Media Briefings”, “Putting Things in Perspective: Meralco Communicates the Upward Trend of Power Rates 2021”, “Meralco’s 2020 Corporate Reports (Power On, Live Life and Give Hope)”, “Biyaheng Meralco: A Virtual Townhall with our CEO”, “Customer Experience Index (CXI): The Case of Meralco Business Centers”, “COVIDCOMMS2021: Meralco’s Facebook Page Keeping the Lights On in the New Normal”, and “MVP: The Man and His Art – A Visual Inventory of Filipino Artistry Gracing the Halls of Philippines’ Major Companies”.

Organized by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines, the Philippine Quill Awards is considered the country’s most prestigious awards program in the field of business communication – emphasizing the excellent use of communication in achieving goals and in making a difference in society.

IABC President Belle Tiongco lauded Meralco on its performance, saying: “For as long as I have been involved with the Quills, Meralco has always been a beacon of communications excellence. Meralco is a communicator that prioritizes its role as a mover, a force for good, in Philippine society. That’s a mindset, I believe, that organizations should emulate so that communications can really be a platform for national development. Mabuhay Meralco, for your performance in this year’s Quills.”

This year’s awardees came from a crop of more than 800 entries – the highest in Quill history, according to the IABC, an association of top business, industrial and organization communicators, and professionals that supports the highest professional standards and practice of exceptional quality and innovation in organization and business communication.