IN THE BEGINING...

The Amcham Foundations was born in the midst of great changes in the Philippines. The early 80's were turbulent years for the Philippines. Martial Law was just lifted in 1981 and a new presidential election was held. President Marcos won and was sworn to office for his second term. When former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., a political opponent of President Ferdinand Marcos came back from exile in 1983, he was assassinated a the airport that now bore his name. The assassination galvanized the opposition and the population to hold political demonstration against the administration.

The country's economy was in a decline and the economic gains posted in the 70's began to be eroded. The situation was aggravated by increasing price of oil which was imported by he Philippines and the lower prices of commodities exported by the Philippines. There was also a lower turnout of tourist due to the political rallies,a decline in direct foreign investments, refusal of foreign banks to grant loans, closure of some factories for lack of imported raw materials, and higher unemployment.

It was during this period that the ultra nationalist elements began to question the presence of MNCs in the Philippines. They would like to know what the MNCs contributed to the economy of the Philippines. A small group of people composed of Robert Sears (Merrill Lynch), Atty, Jun Sison (A/M Sison Jr. & Associates), Bobby Romulo (IBM), Leo Larkin (International Executive Service Corporation), Roy Navarro (SGV), and Tom Minette (Philippine Geothermal) saw the need to communicate what the American MNCs are doing to contribute to the economy of the Philippines. They created the Public Relations Committee in the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines to gather annual information about the salaries and benefits American companies pay the local employees, the taxes that they pay, and other social activities of the American business community. The result of this annual survey was published and shared with the media.

A committee coordinator was assigned the task of handling the day to day work of the committee and was given a desk in the Amcham Library. Some of the early activities of the Public Relations Committee was on relief work to victims of disasters like typhoons, floods, landslides, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions which is not uncommon in the Philippines.

Late in 1985, the Public Relations Committee was named the American Chamber Foundation of the Philippines, Inc. and registered with the Security and Exchange Commission, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the City of Makati, Philippines.

That is how the American Chamber Foundation was formed.