Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Speech during the 18th Visayas Annual Membership Meeting of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP)
Salon de España, Casino Español de Cebu, Cebu City, Cebu (22 February 2006)
Thank you.
Thank you, Bobby.
And I'd like to thank also John Domingo for inviting me to be here with you today. Thank you, Manny for all that PBSP and the PLDT have been doing to help the less fortunate of our brothers and sisters. And thank you Tita Maria Luisa for having been the president of PBSP for such a long time, for many years.
I'd like to greet also the officials of Cebu who are here with us on the presidential table: I see governor Gwen Garcia of the province of Cebu and Vice Mayor Rama of the City of Cebu. Ambassador Sutherland, a friend and partner of PBSP
And we have several members of the Cabinet here: there's Ace Durano of Tourism and Cerge Remonde of the Government Media, Gabby Claudio, our political adviser and Mike Defensor my Chief of Staff.
And I'd like to introduce somebody who will hopefully be very important in the life of the Philippine business for social progress in the years to come, the new resident of the United Nations, the new representative of the U.N. to the Philippines, Madame Nileema Noble. other members of PBSP, happy 18th anniversary to you all!
Eighteen years old here in Casino Español -- that was my mother's experience. My mother had her debut right in Casino Español when she was living here in Cebu.
Several members of our Cabinet are here with us today and also Madame Noble because before coming here we were in Southern Leyte. And we were absolutely crushed by sorrow at what has transpired. The loss of life of so many innocent men, women and children is almost too much to absorb.
As the leader of our nation, I come here today both heavy in heart but also heartened to meet with you, our partners in sustaining the economy and in alleviating the plight of the poor. Filipinos are hopeful, proud and generous and you of PBSP-Visayas represent what is best in the Filipino.
The PBSP is a great force for nation-building. I have known PBSP since the start when I was a young student in the private school in Ateneo. And now we have grown to more than 200 corporate members implementing almost 6,000 social development projects that have benefited some three million poor Filipino households all over the country.
I am familiar with your programs in the Visayas, especially the Olango island development program and the Samar resource management program. I remember when I was still a senator, I visited your Samar projects a few times and one time I had the honor of doing the ceremonial seeding of Maqueda Bay with you. I attended several of your Christmas tree parties and I remember the last one that I was able to attend as vice president when you announced that in the year coming you were going to start your project in Olango island.
And so when John invited me to be with you today I gladly agreed because I want to tell you that we appreciate -- the Filipino people, the communities I visited -- do appreciate what you are doing to them and in fact hope that you will find the means to be able to do more.
It's fitting that we hold this meeting during the 20th anniversary of EDSA 1 because you, PBSP -Visayas represent the mature meaning of people power. EDSA 1 has become an enduring part of our history and you honor the struggle of EDSA by bringing social justice to the people. You demonstrate the transformed and matured fight for economic and social justice since EDSA 1. You create positive change without going outside of the system.
And I remember that was the history of how PBSP was born. There was a lot of unrest at that time and a few businessmen with the social conscience decided what are we going to do to show that the system can work so that those who try to destroy the system will not be able to convince the poor of their arguments.
Indeed, the people are tired of continuous politics and want to settle into a system that is focused on fundamental and social reform without having to take to the streets to achieve that goal. Political revolution without economic revolution is meaningless and that was what you sought out to do 30 years ago, 35 years ago when PBSP was founded.
On my part, as president of our country, I have picked up the standard of EDSA 1 moving to free our nation of the petty politics which too often grips it. More importantly, with your support, the business community's support to our tax reforms, we have freed our nation from the grip of debt and an outdated economic model and launched a modern economy that invest in the people and will leave our nation stronger, not weaker.
I am not saying that the modern economy is already here. I am saying we have started to launch the modernization of our economy because we had been able to do the economic and tax reforms that can help us to fund the modernization of our economy. That is the legacy of EDSA 1 -- to free the people of poverty.
PBSP and the government and our international creditors and donors are partners in the battle against poverty, and we must pursue the gains we are beginning to realize from the surge of fiscal and economic reforms. Most of you are businessmen. In fact, that is what your name is -- Philippine Business for Social Progress. So you know what it all means that our peso is getting stronger and stronger; that investment has picked up no less than Manny Pangilinan is putting three billion pesos in Cebu City; there is a rising business outlook; inflation is under control; the budget deficit is way below target and therefore conversely savings are up; tourism is up. Congratulations! To Cebu son, Ace Durano. And of the 2.5 million tourist who came to the Philippines last year, one-half of them came to the Visayas; and the stock market remains bullish.
Our vision is permanent political and economic stability to take us to the threshold of the first world in 20 years. The men and women from the PBSP member companies have gone out from the comfort of your offices to share your time and resources to make PBSP and our entire country what it is today.
Earlier in the plane, we were talking about getting out of comfort zones. And 35 years ago, PBSP got out of its comfort zone. And now here you are with the PBSP -Visayas 18 years old and doing so much for the people of the Visayas and PBSP for the people of the Philippines.
And so, I wish the PBSP in the Visayas many more years in doing what you do best -- poverty reduction and doing other things as a leader in corporate citizenship.
Let us continue the fight against poverty.
And I was telling Tita Maria Luisa Perez-Rubio that -- well, Gabby knows this. Gabby is from Catbalogan, Gabby Claudio -- the people of Western Samar are very poor and yet it's a beautiful country. And PBSP has done something significant in bringing Maqueda bay back alive again. It had died for so many years because of wrong methods of fishing, illegal fishing, but it is alive again.
And I would like to see more people of the very poor province of Western Samar benefit from what PBSP is doing for Maqueda Bay.
So, when I get back to Manila -- that's why I'm mentioning Gabby Claudio here -- I will ask him to tell the manager of the presidential social fund to give my contribution to PBSP so that we will be able to expand your Maqueda bay project in order to help the poor of that area.
Maraming salamat and happy anniversary to all of you!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
For Love of His Adopted Province
For Love of His Adopted Province
By: Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
IT WAS supposed to be just a three-month stint in 1989 to help set up a relief and rehabilitation program for the devastated typhoon victims of the Calbayog, Gandara and San Jorge municipalities in Samar.
When it was over, Leo Dionisio Hilado Jr. of Jaro, Iloilo went to Cebu for three years and thought he had seen the last of poverty-stricken Samar. He was wrong.
Instead, Hilado found himself in the middle of an ongoing affair with the Eastern Visayan province that has lasted all of 12 years.
This agriculture graduate from Central Philippines University was just a 28-year-old program officer of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) when he first set foot in Samar.
"I was then based in Luzon and handled projects in Bicol, Central Luzon and Northern Luzon. Then I was asked to go down here because of the need for social action," says Hilado, 43.
Initially, it was just to help feed the flood victims. Later, he was asked to go back because of a series of calamities including the red tide scare that displaced many fisherfolk.
Maqueda Bay
The far-reaching effects of the algae-bred malaise eventually led to the development of a program to save Samar's Maqueda Bay, which supports 14 of the 25 municipalities comprising Samar.
Maqueda Bay was the main coastal resource of the province, but its resources were severely depleted due to indiscriminate and rampant fishing.
In 1979, the fish catch was recorded at 78,203 metric tons, just enough to support a population of 100,704 households. By 1991, it had dwindled to only about 33,600 metric tons.
Other ecological threats included dynamite fishing, illegal trawling, siltation from forest denudation, conversion of mangrove areas to either fishponds or settlement areas and uncontrolled pollution.
When he was asked to head the long-term Samar Resource Management Program, Hilado realized that he would have to get used to living in the province.
"It was a signal for me to stay and seriously think about ways to help," he says of the program aimed at addressing the socio-economic and ecological concerns of some 2,700 fishing and farming households.
Hilado could still remember the first time that he saw the province. "There was so much challenge. I developed a love affair with Samar because I saw these vast tracts of land and thought that there was so much that could be done to help the people. I have been to other places and they were more prosperous. I thought I could help do the same for Samar," Hilado says.
It was not exactly hard to convince him to stay behind because he has always had a soft heart for rural development work although he actually grew up in the city.
The third of six children, Hilado was born to a middle class family. His mother was a schoolteacher while his father was a government employee.
At 18, after he joined the school's Youth Community Service Club and got exposed to rural development work, he knew that he had found his calling.
The turnaround
"That was my turnaround," Hilado recalls. "I got exposed to farmers, and their openness and response to what we did opened up the opportunity for me to really go into community development work," he says.
Hilado has not looked back since. He eventually became the president of his school's Youth Community Service Club, which adopted a community and did volunteer work every week. Its members were also involved in reforestation efforts and solicited funds to help install water pumps in Iloilo's rural areas.
While he feels the same level of enthusiasm in his work, he has since realized that trying to change the way of thinking of Samarenos to convince them that there are better ways of farming and fishing was more difficult than he first thought.
"The people here are basically happy go lucky. They are still hunters and gatherers rather than cultivators. When the going gets tough, they tend to leave for Manila and come back only when the situation improves," he says.
"The abundance of resources has also made them complacent. The sea was teeming with catch and all they had to do was cast a net to have food for the day," he adds.
Through such PBSP initiatives as the upland resource project and the coastal management program, the farmers and fisherfolk learned other ways to improve their income.
Says Hilado: "We realized that we had to invest in technology development and initially, we did just that in our demonstration farms and technology centers."
Patient man
It took some time for their efforts to bear fruit but then Hilado likes to describe himself as a patient man, a virtue that goes well with his job.
"It was a very slow development process but I have seen positive changes and they keep me going," he says.
Hilado got so involved in the programs and in running the PBSP technology center that he has not found the time to get involved in a serious relationship. He spends about 60 percent of his time in Samar and the rest in the Luzon-based technology development program center that provides technical assistance to places where the PBSP operates, among them Bacolod, Tawi-Tawi and La Union.
"My address is the Philippine Airlines," he jokes.
Hilado says he finds fulfillment in seeing other people prosper. "When you see people adopting the programs and slowly improving their lives, it's very fulfilling. It shows that they appreciate what you're trying to do for them. That's more than enough for me to go," he says.
That sense of fulfillment more than makes up for the inevitable frustrations that come his way. "Some agencies create difficulties for you even if you're out there trying to provide a service. Some would even pull you down and block the progress of your work," he says.
But he forges ahead, he says, because there are as many agencies that goad him forward. "We have very good working relationships with some government agencies; it's just that things would be so much easier if we all had a common agenda," he says.
Hilado adds that it is heartwarming to know that he has somehow made a difference in the lives of the Samarenos. "Personally, I want to complete the cycle in Samar. We are ready to open a hatchery and to replicate the technology in other coastal areas," he says.
As for marriage, Hilado says it is not part of his short-term plans. "Maybe in three more years," he laughs.
By: Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
IT WAS supposed to be just a three-month stint in 1989 to help set up a relief and rehabilitation program for the devastated typhoon victims of the Calbayog, Gandara and San Jorge municipalities in Samar.
When it was over, Leo Dionisio Hilado Jr. of Jaro, Iloilo went to Cebu for three years and thought he had seen the last of poverty-stricken Samar. He was wrong.
Instead, Hilado found himself in the middle of an ongoing affair with the Eastern Visayan province that has lasted all of 12 years.
This agriculture graduate from Central Philippines University was just a 28-year-old program officer of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) when he first set foot in Samar.
"I was then based in Luzon and handled projects in Bicol, Central Luzon and Northern Luzon. Then I was asked to go down here because of the need for social action," says Hilado, 43.
Initially, it was just to help feed the flood victims. Later, he was asked to go back because of a series of calamities including the red tide scare that displaced many fisherfolk.
Maqueda Bay
The far-reaching effects of the algae-bred malaise eventually led to the development of a program to save Samar's Maqueda Bay, which supports 14 of the 25 municipalities comprising Samar.
Maqueda Bay was the main coastal resource of the province, but its resources were severely depleted due to indiscriminate and rampant fishing.
In 1979, the fish catch was recorded at 78,203 metric tons, just enough to support a population of 100,704 households. By 1991, it had dwindled to only about 33,600 metric tons.
Other ecological threats included dynamite fishing, illegal trawling, siltation from forest denudation, conversion of mangrove areas to either fishponds or settlement areas and uncontrolled pollution.
When he was asked to head the long-term Samar Resource Management Program, Hilado realized that he would have to get used to living in the province.
"It was a signal for me to stay and seriously think about ways to help," he says of the program aimed at addressing the socio-economic and ecological concerns of some 2,700 fishing and farming households.
Hilado could still remember the first time that he saw the province. "There was so much challenge. I developed a love affair with Samar because I saw these vast tracts of land and thought that there was so much that could be done to help the people. I have been to other places and they were more prosperous. I thought I could help do the same for Samar," Hilado says.
It was not exactly hard to convince him to stay behind because he has always had a soft heart for rural development work although he actually grew up in the city.
The third of six children, Hilado was born to a middle class family. His mother was a schoolteacher while his father was a government employee.
At 18, after he joined the school's Youth Community Service Club and got exposed to rural development work, he knew that he had found his calling.
The turnaround
"That was my turnaround," Hilado recalls. "I got exposed to farmers, and their openness and response to what we did opened up the opportunity for me to really go into community development work," he says.
Hilado has not looked back since. He eventually became the president of his school's Youth Community Service Club, which adopted a community and did volunteer work every week. Its members were also involved in reforestation efforts and solicited funds to help install water pumps in Iloilo's rural areas.
While he feels the same level of enthusiasm in his work, he has since realized that trying to change the way of thinking of Samarenos to convince them that there are better ways of farming and fishing was more difficult than he first thought.
"The people here are basically happy go lucky. They are still hunters and gatherers rather than cultivators. When the going gets tough, they tend to leave for Manila and come back only when the situation improves," he says.
"The abundance of resources has also made them complacent. The sea was teeming with catch and all they had to do was cast a net to have food for the day," he adds.
Through such PBSP initiatives as the upland resource project and the coastal management program, the farmers and fisherfolk learned other ways to improve their income.
Says Hilado: "We realized that we had to invest in technology development and initially, we did just that in our demonstration farms and technology centers."
Patient man
It took some time for their efforts to bear fruit but then Hilado likes to describe himself as a patient man, a virtue that goes well with his job.
"It was a very slow development process but I have seen positive changes and they keep me going," he says.
Hilado got so involved in the programs and in running the PBSP technology center that he has not found the time to get involved in a serious relationship. He spends about 60 percent of his time in Samar and the rest in the Luzon-based technology development program center that provides technical assistance to places where the PBSP operates, among them Bacolod, Tawi-Tawi and La Union.
"My address is the Philippine Airlines," he jokes.
Hilado says he finds fulfillment in seeing other people prosper. "When you see people adopting the programs and slowly improving their lives, it's very fulfilling. It shows that they appreciate what you're trying to do for them. That's more than enough for me to go," he says.
That sense of fulfillment more than makes up for the inevitable frustrations that come his way. "Some agencies create difficulties for you even if you're out there trying to provide a service. Some would even pull you down and block the progress of your work," he says.
But he forges ahead, he says, because there are as many agencies that goad him forward. "We have very good working relationships with some government agencies; it's just that things would be so much easier if we all had a common agenda," he says.
Hilado adds that it is heartwarming to know that he has somehow made a difference in the lives of the Samarenos. "Personally, I want to complete the cycle in Samar. We are ready to open a hatchery and to replicate the technology in other coastal areas," he says.
As for marriage, Hilado says it is not part of his short-term plans. "Maybe in three more years," he laughs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)