Going where the heart pulls

Writing to his fellow executives, a chief operating officer of a big corporation shared questions from an article in a McKinsey quarterly. The topic: corporate social responsibility. And the questions: "Is the pursuit of success purely for self-gratification - the proof that you are a cut above the rest? If so, what's next if you have proven your point and become successful? Does that make you a complete person? Does it make you any happier? Do we pursue business, so we could be in a better position to help others? Must we be successful first as a businessman before we start helping others? Or do we do both simultaneously?"

While, to this day, some companies agonize between the pull of their heart and the thud of their balance sheets, other companies had followed their heart decades ago with their answers to the questions. Fortunate certainly for the Philippines. Despite the modest growth in 2000, unemployment increased. Economic growth per se does not, after all, guarantee employment growth. Understandably, the Philippine government included in its medium-term development plan the promotion of decent and productive employment. Through this, all workers shall have full access to income-earning opportunities, with the government using four major employment strategies, foremost of which is employment generation.

Self-employment, an important employment generation strategy, shall see communities providing adequate and sustainable sources of livelihood for their members and families. Under the Philippine development plan, micro-financing will reach over 300,000 women entrepreneurs every year. Declining resources have, however, weakened the government's service delivery systems, which is why it will always appreciate every assistance from the private sector.

Rising to the challenge of partnership for national development, the Aboitiz Group Foundation, Inc. (AGFI) has regularly and consistently assisted various communities, particularly in areas where the Aboitiz companies operate. In the breezy barangay Suba Basbas in Lapu-Lapu City with about 1,000 population, for instance, AGFI constructed last year a two-storey livelihood and day care center costing close to a million pesos. The project was in conjunction with AboitizLand, the Lapulapu City government, and Barangay Suba Basbas.

Here at this center, mothers and other women regularly turn abaca fiber into intricate twines of rope. Atop the AGFI-donated two-storey livelihood center, mothers earn extra income from rope-making while their children are in the daycare center on the ground floor below. It's an ideal set-up. In the two hours that their preschoolers are learning their ABC's, the mothers are learning livelihood skills with which they could augment their family finances. Learners both, mothers and children are just a floor away, with mothers readily available when their preschoolers call out or scream "Mama," particularly in the first week of classes.

The ropes are generally used to tie the "inasal" (roasted pig). And the business dynamics involved are simple and immediate. The supplier of the abaca threads themselves buy back the twined rope. In just 3 minutes, they can twine the threads into a roll each. From every kilo of abaca thread, they can make 60 rolls, with each roll measuring 12 meters. Let's see now, 1 kilo of abaca thread costs P 70. Each roll of twined rope is sold for P 6. In just one and a half hours, a mother can generate P 290 profit. Not bad for productivity, especially if the alternative is gossip and idle talk, both unproductive and damaging.

To Victoria Diasana, mother of six, this livelihood augments her small income as a barangay worker. She grew up making ropes, and has in turn made this a necessary skill for all her children to develop. They help out when bulk orders demand. So do other members of the Suba Women's Association of Rope Makers (SWARM), the Pundok sa Rope Makers (PROM), and the Workers of Rope Makers sa Kapili (WORK). Numbering over 50, these members obtained a loan from the DSWD and were trained by residents from Leyte.

Roberto Espinosa, kagawad of Bgy. Suba Basbas, doubles his commitment and service to the community as chairman of their livelihood center. He says that the members do not just make rope; they also make floor wax and "landang" (a gel-like ingredient for the delicious native "binignit" or "ginataan."). Work is easy, they all say. And they don't have to go far to dispose of their products; the nearby beach resorts are just too ready to buy them.

Over here in Cebu City, the Aboitiz Group Foundation scholars are turning flour and water into bread at the Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD) along Banilad road. Their brochure says it all: "Envisioning a brighter future for our Filipino women." In operation for 14 years now, the BCPD has produced numerous young ladies equipped with the necessary skills to earn a decent living. A feat attributed to the fact that after only 2 years of intensive training and study, these high school graduates are immediately hired by the food service and tourism industries. Honed in home and institutional management, food and beverage services and culinary techniques, BCPD graduates are able to work in famed resorts and upscale cafes, at par with their college graduate counterparts.

Among the 250 beneficiaries between 16 and 30 years old is Joy, 21 years old and a baker at Cafe Georg after graduation in 2003. She says, "BCPD has been a big help to me because it gave me direction. Not being able to afford college made me fear that there was no future out there for me. But thanks to the training I received, I am now earning well and helping my family." She added that aside from the technical skills, she appreciated the holistic formation and values education she received from the center.

Maricel Ramirez, Cafe Georg's supervisor for almost 3 years, echoes the elation. "BCPD has equipped me with skills and values that have brought me to where I am now. I'm so grateful for the scholarship given to me through BCPD because I never imagined I would go this far, coming from a poor family in a squatters' area. I'm hard-working and so the opportunity to earn a decent livelihood, even if I'm not a college graduate, is what I am thankful for."

Like Joy and Maricel, other graduates have been learning and developing employable skills, whether as garden managers, food attendants, cold or hot kitchen staff, pastry helpers, or bakers. The program costing P 925,000 spelled three years of assistance. The first year saw the renovation of laboratory/ livelihood area and the acquisition of equipment. In the second year, the upgraded program was implemented and livelihood production started. And the third year saw the full implementation of the micro-enterprise component.

Skills plus opportunities indeed open up a bright future for those who see and take them. Through the years, the Aboitiz Group Foundation, Inc. has supported BCPD's endeavor to transform women's lives. Driven to lead, excel and serve, AGFI has been providing scholarships to determined and deserving students. Continuing to go where their hearts pull, they have educated and provided livelihood opportunities. In doing so, the Filipinos' financial needs are met, lives are transformed and the country is better for it.