With micro-entrepreneur theme, life meets art among winning painters

MANILA, Philippines - Technological University of the Philippines’ Ronson Culibrina’s “Bantayog” won the grand prize in the recently concluded 23rd PLDT-Directories Philippines Corporation (DPC) Directory Cover Visual Art National Competition.

DPC president Ricardo Bautista described this year’s competition — with its theme, “Tribute to the Filipino Micro-Entrepreneurs” — as a salute to those young and brilliant creative talents and those unsung champions of our economy who have inspired this year’s crop of outstanding artistic work.

“I am happy with the turnout,” said Ramon Orlina, world-renowned glass sculptor and one of the contest’s five highly-respected judges. “The winners were able to capture the importance of micro-entrepreneurs.”

Culibrina’s winning artwork depicted various micro-entrepreneurs, street vendors atop Jose Rizal’s famous Luneta monument. To create his entry for the DPC contest, the 17-year-old fine arts student says that he first asked himself what the role of micro-entrepreneurs is in our country.

For Culibrina, he didn’t need to look far for inspiration. His father is a fisherman in Taguig, Rizal, while his grandmother used to sell daing at the market.

“As I saw it, the micro-entrepreneurs are the roots of the country’s business. They help a lot in keeping the gears of our economy going,” he explains. “To me, they’re kind of modern-day heroes, too, so I put them there in Rizal’s monument.”

Bautista acknowledged this important role of micro-entrepreneurs: “The depth of the economic woes besetting every country across the globe means that the spirit of entrepreneurship must spring from every rung of society. Looking around, we will find that the most enduring survivors in our midst come from what some refer to as ‘the underground economy’ where tens of thousands of the entrepreneurial poor thrive. Many of them start off with a loan of a few hundred pesos and gradually grow their businesses. This is how they put food on the table, get their children through school, and keep their hopes alive for a better life for their families.”

Recognizing this, DPC has been developing services, such as free pages in the Electronic Yellow Pages (EYP) and affordable services that give small businesses the means to reach out to a wider market of potential buyers.

“Over the past 50 years, the DPC Yellow Pages has filled that role — initially as a comprehensive printed directory of commercial and industrial establishments and, today, as a multi-platform search engine for key categories of market wants and needs,” Bautista explained. “While the Yellow Pages caters to businesses of all sizes, its relative value is magnified in the case of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which have very limited marketing budgets. Their ads and listings in the Yellow Pages are, in effect, their show window to the marketplace.”

The second and third prize winners were also the beneficiaries of micro-entrepreneurs’ hard work. The second place winning piece, “Magasin,” also came from TUP, courtesy of Kevin Leonard Cerda. The third prize went to Marc Salamat of Bulacan State University for “Samu’t Saring Ngiti.”

Cerda’s aunt used to operate a small rice mill that has since grown considerably. Meanwhile, the contest’s third placer, Salamat, was for a time a micro-entrepreneur himself.

“I used to sell slippers when I was kid to augment our family’s income,” the 22-year-old fine arts student explains. “And right now, my mother operates a sari-sari store, which I also help in maintaining.”

Cerda credits what he has become to micro-enterprise: “Micro-entrepreneurship yung kinabuhay naming, e. Diyan ako nakapag-aral ng elementary, high school at ngayon sa college. (We made a living out of micro-entrepreneurship. It enabled me to study through elementary, high school and until now in college).”

Salamat wanted his mother to come during the awarding, but “she felt shy about going.” His mother’s reaction is typical of micro-entrepreneurs. Working quietly behind the scenes and beyond the spotlight, they’re the ones who can help make success among the underprivileged possible.

Explaining how the winners were chosen, judge Cesar Victor “Cid” Reyes said: “The concept and execution are very important. So we selected the best painting in terms of execution, that also best illustrates or captures the intent of the theme.”

The winning artists won cash prizes for themselves and their respective schools, as well as prestigious trophies designed and crafted by National Artist Napoleon Abueva.