'Filipino' awards launched today

MANILA, Philippines – RFM Corp. will launch the first “Yes The Filipino Can! Awards” today at the NBC Tent in Taguig as it celebrates its 50 years in the industry. 

“Yes The Filipino Can!” started as a battlecry of the Concepcion family and was strongly promoted by Jose Ma. “JoeCon” Concepcion Jr. and his son, Jose Ma. “Joey” Concepcion III.

It is an advocacy of promoting important Filipino values and principles, which was also brought by the Concepcions into the National Movement for Free Elections, the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines, and Go Negosyo. 

Philanthropist Dylan Wilk, 34, was born to a poor family in the United Kingdom. At the age of 20, Dylan took a loan of 2,500 pounds (roughly $5,000) from a foundation of Prince Charles called the Prince’s Trust. He used the money to start Gameplay, a business selling computer games.

Five years later, Gameplay became Europe’s largest direct-selling computer games business.

Dylan listed Gameplay on the London Stock Exchange, making him at that time the youngest director of a public company and also the ninth richest man in the UK.

Already rich, Dylan spent his money buying luxurious automobiles like a Ferrari, a Porsche, and several BMWs.

Despite the luxuries, however, Dylan did not have fulfillment. More than the cars and the money, he needed heart and soul.

He then sought his purpose in living, and found his way to the Philippines.

When he heard about Gawad Kalinga (GK) in 2003, he immediately flew to the Philippines and spent time with GK executive director Tony Meloto.

The experience made him realize the extent of service and relief GK provided to poor Filipino families.

Giving up his lavish lifestyle in UK, Dylan decided to settle in the Philippines to help champion the cause of building houses for the poor.

He now coordinates GK’s international partnership efforts, inspiring Filipinos all over the world to look back and rebuild their mother country.

Dylan believes that GK brings back to the Filipino people hope, self-esteem, dignity, and the sense of bayanihan or communal spirit.

Upholding truth

In 1986, together with Max Soliven and Art Borjal, Betty Go-Belmonte, wife of Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and daughter of the late Go Puan Seng, a Chinese immigrant who became one of the country’s leading newspapermen in the 1930s, established The Philippine STAR.

The newspaper, which is committed to truthful reporting and the pursuit of press freedom, was inspired by Betty’s desire to continue her father’s legacy.

After her death in 1994, Betty’s mission for respectable and credible reportage has been kept alive by her three sons Miguel, Isaac and Kevin, who are now the president and CEO, editor-in-chief, and corporate secretary of The STAR, respectively, as well as her sister, Grace Glory Go who is the paper’s executive vice-president.

In 1996, The STAR was named Outstanding Newspaper of the Year by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption “in recognition of its invaluable service to the community by courageously sticking to the truth and to the basic tenets of professional journalism.”

That same year, The STAR was also conferred the Agora Award’s Marketing Company of the Year Award by the Philippine Marketing Association.

Adapting to modern times, The STAR was the first major broadsheet to fully employ the power of short message service (SMS) to gather opinions from its readers.

Reaping the harvest, data from the Neilsen Media Index for the first quarter of 2008 showed The STAR as the most-read broadsheet in Metro Manila, the Philippines’ capital, with a Monday-to-Saturday readership of 47.4 percent.

National discovery

The first-ever national indigenous youth volunteer organization in the Philippines, Tuklas Katutubo (TK) aims to train and organize indigenous people, especially women and youth, so that they become more assertive, organized, active, and empowered.

Tuklas Katutubo has organized several pioneering activities, such as the First National Indigenous Youth Summit held in May 2002 in Kidapawan City, and the “Bangon Batang Katutubo” national campaign, which was launched last year.

TK is the recipient of the Ten Accomplished Youth Organization (TAYO) award given by the National Youth Commission and the prestigious TOYS (The Outstanding Youth Service Award) from the United Nations and UNESCO.

Currently, the organization is committed to programs that respond to the needs of indigenous communities and tap their knowledge, values, and technologies.

With the help of volunteers, TK has set up twelve day-care centers and elementary schools in indigenous communities in North Cotobato and has implemented the Kebegeran Health Project to train local community tribal health workers to serve their fellow indigenous people.

Tuklas Katutubo is also coordinating with Mirant Philippines in putting up electricity in remote barangays in Agusan Marsh, Agusan Del Sur.

With its many charitable programs, TK has attracted funding and support from indigenous communities, religious, non-government organizations, local government units, and other private funding organizations.

Today, they have 3,000 members nationwide, serving 60 out of 110 tribes in the country.

Advancing the Migrant Pinoy

Unlad Kababayan works with migrants to curb extraneous spending and promote saving and investment in projects that will raise the socio-economic well being of local communities. 

In 1996, Unlad Kababayan became a pioneer of the innovative approach of harnessing migrant workers’ resources to develop the local economy.

Unlad created strong and sustainable communities through microenterprise development, using previously untapped sources of entrepreneurship and finance: migrants and their remittances.

In the early ‘90s, with the assistance of Unlad Kababayan, Migrant Savings for Alternative Investment (MSAI) was developed as a reintegration strategy by migrant groups in Hong Kong.

MSAI evolved as it went beyond mobilizing migrant savings overseas and worked towards investing for community development and reintegration. Two strategies were employed: SEEDS (Social Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development Services) and Business Incubation (BI).

SEEDS is a community-based training and resource center that promotes entrepreneurship, while BI enables small and medium entrepreneurs to learn the rigors of business management and social responsibility. Unlad has also engaged in micro-finance, with a P13.5-million credit line.

Through years of providing monetary assistance, Unlad has received numerous prestigious awards, including the World Bank’s Panibagong Paraan 2008 project grant competition, for the project “New Lives for Old – peace, growth and good governance through social enterprise.”

Maria Angela Villalba, founder and executive director of the group, was also awarded as Social Entrepreneur of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines 2007 by Ernst and Young and SGV Foundation, Inc.

In 2005, Unlad received the Changemakers Award from Ashoka, the movement of global social entrepreneurs based in Washington DC.

These awardees will join former senators Juan Flavier and Santanina Rasul, Solid Group Inc. founder Elena Lim, ATRIEV president Antonio Llanes Jr., BBC news anchor Rico Hizon, educator Onofre Pagsanghan and Colayco Foundation chairman Francisco Colayco, who have earlier been featured in The STAR.