By Jonah May Nueca, UPLB Intern

While GlowCorp is a marketing arm focused on its farmer suppliers, partner NGOs, and shareholders, it does not close its doors to further engage with its community. This is also a means for the social enterprise to maximize its exposure to promote and support local, in a way, achieving its mission to penetrate the modern market with its organic and natural products. In November 2021, GlowCorp was invited to be part of the 59th Philippine Economic Society Annual Meeting and Conference entitled “Prospects of the New Normal: Online Technologies to Shorten the Philippine Food and Agricultural Supply Chain”, hosted by the University of the Philippines in Los Baños-Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. The General Manager, Bernie Berondo, virtually presented on behalf of the whole enterprise. The discussion revolved around the role of social enterprises as farmers’ bridges to the gaps brought about by the limited access to digital technologies and information, specifically presenting the case of GlowCorp. 

Face-to-face onboarding of UPLB student interns with Bernie Berondo and Joeramie Balintongog.

Since pandemic restrictions are slowly being lifted, GlowCorp was announced as one of the partner Host Training Establishments (HTEs) of the UPLB Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics that offer limited face-to-face internships. Three slots were made available for junior students to fill in through the submission of resumes and cover letters. On July 4, 2022, GlowCorp welcomes the student interns to its office in Cabuyao City, Laguna, to officially conduct the onboarding, spearheaded by its General Manager, Bernie Berondo, and Operations Manager, Joeramie Balintongog. A sufficient internship plan prepared by GlowCorp was also finalized to consider the needs of the student interns. It includes social media marketing tasks as well as field visits to supermarkets and partner cooperative in Oriental Mindoro. 

UPLB is however not the first but the third partner institution of GlowCorp in terms of internship programs. GlowCorp also welcomed student interns for its accounting department from other universities like Pamantasan ng Cabuyao, and Food Technology students from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Meanwhile, for the month-long internship of Agricultural and Applied Economics students, GlowCorp aims to be an avenue of training, especially in terms of hands-on work experience where the interns shall apply theoretical learnings into practice. In turn, the students are expected to help or assist GlowCorp in its marketing strategies and supermarket negotiations. The internship program shall bring about a mutual benefit while still prioritizing the learnings and enjoyment for the student interns to experience.