MANILA, Philippines – Former President Corazon Aquino urged the poor yesterday to venture into micro enterprises to help lift themselves up from poverty.
Speaking at the Ramon Magsaysay Asia Forum at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, Aquino said reducing poverty requires more than just economic growth, which must be anchored on programs that would enable people to take part in building a “sustainable future.”
“The Philippines takes pride in people power and it has been my dream to harness this anti-poverty drive in my country since 1986,” she said.
“One of my preoccupations is to make use of people power as a force to eliminate poverty.”
Aquino said harnessing people through social intervention by government or the private sector should not assume the nature of dole-outs.
“The first step in a people power strategy of anti-poverty is to unlock the potential of this great mass of Filipinos through micro enterprise, a strategy that was inspired by the good work of institutions which I have had the good fortune of serving up close since 2005,” she said.
Aquino introduced to her audience her anti-poverty project, Pinoy ME which stands for Filipino Microenterprise, a microfinance movement that enlists the support of banks, foundations and non-government organizations to help poor Filipinos acquire loans to be able to start their own businesses or micro enterprise.
Aquino has been actively supporting Pinoy ME for the past two and a half years, as an anti-poverty strategy that brings stakeholders together and “eventually enable marginalized Filipinos to rise out of their poverty through their own efforts.”
Aquino, 1998 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Peace and International Understanding, said she was touched by how Pinoy ME has been helping indigent Filipino families avail of loans and silently working their way out of poverty.
“Our overseas Filipino workers are often depicted as heroes but there’s another group who deserves admiration, respect and support,” she said.
“Over the last two and half years, I’ve had the privilege to draw inspiration from these ordinary Filipinos who live far more honorable lives in our society. Here are mothers trying to carve out an honest living through micro enterprises and are saving to put their children to school and are slowly improving the quality of their lives.”
Hope for the poor begins with a micro loan of P5,000 or less from Pinoy ME and other similar Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), she added.
Aquino said Pinoy ME would need the support of various sectors to boost micro enterprises and gradually bring the poor’s micro enterprises to the mainstream of business.
“Towards this end, we have asked everyone in the Pinoy ME consortium to enjoin me in achieving our goal in empowering MFIs to expand coverage to five million clients and raise P5 billion in accessible funds in five years,” she said.
“We are targeting five billion microfinance projects because that number approximates the number of families living below the poverty line. We agree to work on hitting this target in five years.”
All sectors must help in realizing Pinoy ME’s “555” goal or P5 billion microfinance projects for five million poor families in five years, she added.
Aquino said the MFIs have been truly successful, particularly in rural areas, and this proves that the poor are truly credit-worthy.
“Hence the consortium is looking for ways to enhance the MFI’s effectiveness to attain the necessary impact in reducing poverty,” she said.
Aquino said they would tap retired bankers to mentor MFIs.
“In a couple of years, I hope to see Pinoy ME as an image of people power, a shining example of sustainable development,” she said.
“I am certain that if Ninoy were alive today, he would applaud Pinoy ME and similar initiatives that empower the poor and the disenfranchised and help create more jobs in the communities.
“This is the next in our roadmap toward realizing our vision, our priority to help create a middle class composed of Filipinos who can make mature and intelligent choices economically, socially and politically.
“We hope to develop 50,000 new loan officers that will achieve the outreach in the next two years.”
Pinoy ME, like other MFIs, faces challenges, but thanks to a working group and a steering committee composed of the best minds in the private sector, they have been gradually addressing the obstacles. The major challenge is to employ loan officers to service the growing number of Pinoy ME’s clients.