BIÑAN CITY: Metro Pacific Tollways South (MPT South), a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the toll road development arm of Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) to address cases of stray animals wandering the busy roads of the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex), Cavitex C5 Link, and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax). Under the MoU, MPT South and PAWS will be working to implement a corporate social responsibility program called 'Love Pets, Save Lives.' It will conduct responsible pet ownership seminars, free spaying and neutering procedures, and provide free vitamins for cats and dogs of the indigent pet owners in the communities of MPT South. 'This is a milestone for MPT South in addressing and providing a more sustainable and humane solution to the issue of stray animals inside our expressways. As we collaborate with the Philippine Animal Welfare Society, we aim to resolve this by providing responsible pet ownership seminars and providing free spay and neuter services,' said Raul Ignacio, president and general manager of MPT South. 'We, at the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), are honored to be partners of MPT South for its 'Love Pets, Save Lives' program. It is the first of its kind for an expressway developer to launch an animal welfare program. This, in itself, breaks barriers and gives hope for an organization, like PAWS, that more and more companies are seeing the wisdom of a preventive approach to the stray problem,' said Anna Cabrera, executive director of PAWS. PAWS is a registered nonprofit, volunteer-based organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the humane treatment of all animals. It believes that providing free or affordable kapon (spaying or neutering) for pets is the long-term and sustainable solution to pet homelessness. Aside from Cavitex, Cavitex C5 Link and Calax, MPTC also holds concession rights for North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), NLEx Connector Road, and the Cebu-Cordova link expressway.
