By Dave Llorito
Research Head
VOWING "to bring people power up to the next level," former president Corazon Aquino will launch a P5-billion microfinance fund on Monday (January 22) to uplift the lives of at least five million poor people as well as address what she calls a "persistent poverty in the country."
Lending their names to the campaign are prominent personalities in the business sector and "civil society" groups who will help mobilize money from various sources including banks, development financing institutions, the business community, and other "social investors." Among them are Washington Sycip, former ambassador Howard Dee, ambassador Jesus Tambunting, Manny Pangilinan, Ramon del Rosario of the Phinma group of companies, Vicky Garchitorena and former Negros Occidental governor Daniel Lacson.
"We need to fight poverty in a systematic way by mobilizing disadvantaged communities to help themselves with the empowering support of multiple sectors," said Aquino in a press statement.
The launching will be held on January 22 at Tiendesitas in the Ortigas Center in Pasig City.
To be called PinoyME or Pinoy micro enterprise, the fund aims to enable microfinance institutions (MFIs) to mobilize P5 billion in capital in five years and serve at least 5 million clients in depressed communities all over the country, an initiative patterned after the Grameen Bank of Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.
Aquino believes that through small loans lent by MFIs, microentrepreneurs can earn a decent livelihood and improve their quality of life. Eventually, some of these microenterprises will grow and create jobs in their communities, and the more successful ones can go on to become small and medium enterprises (SMEs). As more and more microenterprises grow into SMEs, a strong base for economic growth will emerge.
"Microenterprise (ME) development is emerging as a vital anti-poverty strategy all over the developing world," says PinoyME spokesman and former Negros Occidental governor Daniel Lacson. "The recent conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, attests to the success of MFIs in empowering millions to work their way out of poverty."
"By making microfinance more accessible, PinoyME aims to unlock the potential of individual Filipinos, particularly those who have been marginalized and stripped of their dignity by sheer poverty," adds Mr. Lacson. "Over the medium to long term, this will also pave the way for better governance as a critical mass of citizens is empowered to make mature political choices and demands, as well as to aspire to become a new breed of leaders. Our vision is to help create a broad middle class, which is the foundation for an equitable economy and a strong democracy."
In addition to former President Aquino and Lacson, the other members of the steering committee of the PinoyME consortium are: Jaime Aristotle Alip, managing director, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development; Ruth Callanta, president, Center for Community Transformation; Ronald Chua, faculty member, AIM Center for Development Management; Ambassador Dee, as chairman of the Assisi Development Foundation; Ms. Garchitorena, as president of Ayala Foundation; Edward Go, president, ASA Philippines; Rosalinda Hortaleza, president and CEO, HBC Inc.; retired general William Hotchkiss III, president, Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines; Cayetano Paderanga, Jr., president, CIBI Information Inc.; Manuel Pangilinan, chairman, PLDT and Philippine Business for Social Progress; Anton Pascual, executive director, Caritas-Manila; Ramon del Rosario Jr., president and CEO, Phinma; Aniceto Sobrepeña, president, Metrobank Foundation; Mr. Sycip, as AIM chairman; Ambassador Jesus Tambunting, chairman, Planters Bank; and Veronica Villavicencio, executive director, Peace and Equity Foundation.
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0119&202007/headlines05.html
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