VECO Wins Award for Employee Breastfeeding Support Program

The Visayan Electric Company, Inc. (VECO) was awarded in the recently concluded #InahanKugihan Breastfeeding Awards for having the Most Beautiful Lactation Room in a Private Establishment.

The Breastfeeding Awards Program, an initiative of the website www.mytsikiting.com, is “lovingly created by myTsikiting.com and Milk Making Mommies” to recognize all the #InahanKugihan in Cebu as well as the OB/Pedia and Businesses in Cebu who have been very supportive of breastfeeding. The awards program is open to all Cebu-based mommies who are actively feeding and breast milk feeding, Cebu-based OB/Pedia and businesses that have breastfeeding support programs for its employees or customers.

Dr. Marini Tabon-Esguerra of Titadocmom Breastfeeding Center – Cebu, the force behind the website and the promotion of breastfeeding in Cebu, said parents of breastfed babies have less health care claims, less absent days and are able to save from not buying milk formula, water, or medications.

“However, I think the most special contribution of breastfeeding at work is the feeling of empowerment of the employee when his or her family’s goals are supported. This has been statistically proven to increase employee loyalty to the company and increased productivity from feelings of well being. Also, breastfed children grow to become healthy, social and intelligent adults with much to offer to their communities,” she added.

Visayan Electric was nominated by one of their breastfeeding employees, Ronimay Ducay-Alvarado. “I nominated VECO because of its wonderful support to my fellow breastfeeding moms in our office. Our lactation room or Mother’s Room as we call it, is very useful to moms like me who want to continue our breastfeeding journey even when we’re working. I am so thankful to VECO for providing us more than what is required by law and for helping us nourish our babies with the best nutrition that we can ever afford,”Ducay-Alvarado said.

Republic Act 10028 of the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 was signed to support, protect and encourage women who are breastfeeding working moms. The law requires workplaces to establish a lactation station for nursing mothers complete with equipment and facilities such as lavatory for hand washing, refrigeration for storing breast milk, electrical outlets for breast pumps, comfortable seats and tables. The law also provides for nursing mothers to be given additional breaks called Lactation Periods of not less than 40 minutes in an 8-hour working period.

“More than compliance, we want our nursing VECO employees to feel comfortable that even though they left their little ones at home, they can still continue to provide breast milk. The lactation room is just a tool for them to accomplish their breastfeeding goals,” said Johanna Samson of the VECO Human Resources.

The Visayan Electric Company, owned and managed by publicly-listed Aboitiz Power Corporation and Vivant Corporation, is the second largest electric utility in the country. VECO has three ISO certifications — ISO 9001:2015 for Quality Management Systems (QMS), ISO 14001:2015 for Environmental Health and Safety Management Systems (EHSMS) and ISO 45001:2018 for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS).