Tag Archives: VP Leni Robredo

Technology

The 10th NICP Summit at Naga, City of Smiles

November 25, 2018. Somewhere between Naga and Manila. Here I am on the way back home from Naga City where I emceed the 10th National ICT Councils Confederation Summit together with good friend ex-IBPAP CEO Jomari Mercado.

Months back, when I hosted the press launch of  the digitalcitiesPH portal of IBPAP, DICT and NICP, my AIM classmate Dan de Leon and NICP president Dr. Tony del Carmen asked me to help with the national summit which was to take place at the Avenue Convention Center in Naga City.  Dan is president of the Naga ICT Council. I readily said yes to Dan, and the rest was history.  Dan assigned me to co-emcee the two-day conference and the NICP Awards, as well as, moderate two interesting sessions.

It was rewarding to be part of the summit, learn about block chains, cryptocurrency, e-governance, and what the different cities are doing to develop their local IT-BPM Industry and bring about digital transformation and Inclusive growth to the countryside.  It was also a great opportunity to meet old friends in the industry like DICT Usec. Monchito Ibrahim (who gamely took our ribbing) and DICT Emmy Lou Versoza-Delfin, and make new ones, like Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce & Industry president Dr. Frankie Villanueva, NICP executive director and operations manager AJ Araneta, and dynamic young entrepreneurs of Streetby.com Cherry Ann Lee Angoy and Ronald Rhey Miñoza.  I also had the honor of  meeting Mayor John Bongat, who had penned the moving opening prayer, and VP Leni Robredo, whose intelligence, honesty and humility, I admire greatly.

It was interesting too not to have to worry about all the moving parts of event management. Honestly though there were times that I almost jumped to my feet to give directions but stopped myself in time to just go with the flow. After all, I wasn’t  in charge of organizing the summit, and I had a very capable and funny co-emcee who could easily adjust to last minute changes in the program, and who knew almost everyone in the room.

After the two-day summit was over, the executive director of the Naga Investments Promotions Board Ruel Oliver, learning the I was longing to do some shopping, kindly arranged for a quick trip to the market, accompanied by John Buendia, Sam Bantegui-Ballenas, and Edward Dimaiwat.

Edward is an intern at the City Tourism Office. On the way to the market, we had a lively conversation on what Naga City could offer a tourist like me who only had a few hours to spare. Aside from culture and churches, Edward said Bicol food was a big draw, especially because of its spiciness. I was waiting for him to start naming restaurants when he pointed out that there was a drugstore on almost every street to take care of the effects of over eating.  That was hilarious! Seriously though, he recommended visiting The Red Platter for its kari-kare and laing or Bob Marlin for its crispy pata.

John, on the other hand, is in charge of developing livelihood in 27 barangays, many of which are in remote areas. For instance, he is helping Barangay Panicuason in the Uplands of Mount Isarog to start an abaca plantation with the help of Bicol University. He is very passionate about helping the barangays under his watch prosper. From John, I learned that Mayor Bongat’s flagship program Grow Negosyo looks at growing opportunities for wealth by providing four services to MSMEs and SMEs: training, market support, product development and micro-financing.

My three guides proudly pointed out that the old public market was considered to be the largest single-roof wet market in Asia when it was inaugurated in 1969.  Shortly before the start of Mayor John Bongat’s term, it was renamed as Naga  City People’s Mall. We combed the market for local pili delicacies and dried fish.

I was happy to have Sam and Edward as my shopping guides, especially when it came to the dried fish section.  The lady at the first stall was charging me much higher than the other stalls (I guess it was obvious I am not a local), and Edward helped locate a friendly and accommodating vendor.  A smiling and kindly Merly Diego not only extended wholesale prices, but also sealed several kilos of danggit, pusit, espada and dilis in vacuum packed plastic bags and then packed them in boxes that could easily be checked in.

That night, Jomari and I skipped the Governor’s dinner to eat crispy pata and creamy laing at the famed Bob Marlin while catching up on industry news.  Definitely, Bob Marlin is a “must-not-miss” destination in Naga City.  When I first saw the crispy pata, I said this was too much, but it was so good, there was hardly anything to take away.

On the way back, we learned that there was a church close by that had a 6am Sunday mass.  Back at the hotel, Dan who had come to give us several bottles of homemade laing as promised, confirmed that Peñafrancia Minor Basilica was just a 3-minute walk, so we agreed to hear the 6am mass.

Early the next day, we walked to the Basilica which houses “Ang Ina” or Our Mother as the Naga people fondly refer to the wooden image of the Blessed Mother crafted in 1710, which is carried aboard on its fluvial parade.  We learned from much earlier risers Tats and her husband Elmer that mass was at 6:30 am and not 6:00 am but that there is another church close by with a 6:00 am mass. Since we had to leave by 8:00 am for the airport, we decided to just quickly pop into the Basilica to pray and see “Ang Ina” then briskly walked (almost ran) to the next church.

Huffing and puffing, we made it to the other church for mass, which was in the local dialect. I was captivated by the beautifully painted ceiling with murals from the life of the Blessed Mother.  Walking leisurely back to the hotel, we were greeted by the busy and colorful sidewalk market scene. I was tempted to buy suman but thought better knowing I already had a suitcase heavy with bottled laing.

Truly, this trip to Naga City was well spent, not just about doing my small bit to help NICP and countryside development, learning about digital transformation, networking with the industry, meeting new and old friends, but also savoring the experience of discovering the beauty of Naga, the City of Smiles.

 

Business, Children, Corporate Social Responsibility, Differences, Food, Governance, Health, Life, Resilience, Women

Brewing@AIM with VP Leni Robredo

Yesterday morning, I attended the launch of Brewing@AIM: Conversations with Thought Leaders with VP Leni Robredo as its very first guest speaker. Truth to tell, I was a bit miffed when I arrived at 8:45 am only to learn that the keynote speaker was scheduled to arrive at 10:30 am. It was nice though that there were some early birds like me, and so I joined the table of my friend, Yoling Sevilla, CEO of The Leather Collection, Inc.  Yoling and I are both board members of the Women’s Business Council (WomenBizPH). Yoling invited me to her company’s 25th anniversary celebration at AIM on September 16, and reminded me that my late husband Mike who was then VP for External Affairs at AIM had given The Leather Collection its first big break with the AIM diary.

Yoling is one admirable woman, an entrepreneur par excellence, and is currently doing wonderful work with the GREAT Women project. She kidded me about her being the youngest graduate at our table, having finished the 18-month part-time program, Master in Entrepreneurship (ME). A relatively new offering of the Asian Institute of Management, ME is designed to help busy entrepreneurs grow their business, develop practical skills and realistic approaches to value creation and growth, and balance both personal and business goals.

Yoling and I were seated with AIM’s first MBM graduates from 1970 and 1971: Rene Sunico, Butch Bautista, Jun Orobia, and Chito Francisco.  The talk around the table revolved around giving back to the community, particularly those who were devastated by super typhoon Yolanda.  Rene shared that Republic Cement had built 25-sqm hyperbolic paraboloid houses in partnership with Habitat for Humanity in Daanbantayan, Cebu. These houses were made to deflect the fiercest winds and withstand strong earthquakes, he said. Curious, I tried to remember my highschool geometry lessons and imagine how a hyperbolic paraboloid house would look. Rene tried to explain that the outside was pointed and the inside was round. Aha! So, it’s an igloo on the inside and a pyramid on the outside, I said aloud.  To satisfy my curiosity, I asked him to send me photos of the houses, which he kindly did.

Promptly at 10:30am, Vice President Leni Robredo arrived. VP Leni also holds the office of chair of Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC). She spoke quite passionately about her mission to eradicate poverty. Promising to make HUDCC a listening office, VP Leni shared her experience of traveling to the poorest and farthest barangays to meet and listen to Filipinos at the fringes of society. She admitted that working at the grassroots level was not the happy field trips and photo opportunities people thought them to be, but actually tense situations, mostly humid and tiring, where she met people who are angry, hungry and desperate for lack of opportunity. It was interesting that VP Leni called them partners in development rather than mere beneficiaries, giving them a more active role in improving their situation.

Citing the economic results posted two weeks ago where the Philippines hit 7% GDP growth, besting China’s 6%, VP Leni observed that this top line growth has put the country on the global map, and that now all eyes are trained on the Philippines. And yet, despite this economic boom, the inequality is startling with 52% of the national income belonging to the Richest, the top 20% Filipinos, while only a miniscule 4.45% of national income goes to the Poorest, the bottom 20% of Filipinos.

VP Leni pointed out that while inclusive growth is critical for the poor, it was also necessary so that businesses could grow sustainably. Admitting that government cannot do it alone, and that her office has a miniscule budget, she asked the AIM alumni to lend their support and help eradicate poverty through five main areas: 1) housing, 2) public health and hunger, 3) rural development and food security, 4) education, and women economic empowerment.

I was surprised to learn that there is a 5.7M total housing backlog, which translates to building 2,602 houses per day in the next six years. I nudged Rene Sunico and said this was right up his alley. But building houses alone will not solve the problem, VP Leni stressed. A whole eco-system must be built with livelihood opportunites, proper sewerage and drainage, security of tenure, schools, hospitals, parks, children’s playgrounds. HUDCC is also making it easier for people to have homes, by reducing paperwork for socialized housing from 27 to 9, and reducing processing time from two years to 15-30 days.

On the health front, VP Leni said there are 3.5M Filipino children suffering from stunting. Unless children are given better nutrition, a decade from now, the workforce will be weak and unfit for work. The objective is to improve nutritional intake of children in first 1,000 days of life from womb to two years. She cited the work that the Zuellig Foundation is undertaking to help address hunger and proper nutrition, and that of Seaoil in creating an Information Management System tool that allows data gathering of where the need is.

Rural development and food security can be addressed with Impact Investment. VP Leni cited the example of Jollibee Foundation that is helping small farming communities become entrepreneurs by teaching them to grow onions and sell them. This being a transition year in education with the K to12, the focus should be on career planning, skills development, and job matching. VP Leni shared that the aspiration of most high school seniors is to learn baking. Obviously, there is a great Disconnect as graduates need to have the right skills to enter the workforce. She urged LGUs to created a database of existing jobs that could be accessed to fight underemployment.

Women economic empowerment, VP Leni’s last initiative, is exactly what the Women’s Business Council (WomenBizPH) is advocating for, from livelihood training to mentoring, micro-finance and access to market. WomenBizPH has been in the forefront of organizing or collaborating with likeminded stakeholders in policy advocacy for women economic empowerment. For example, WomenBizPH served as the private sector representative during the last APEC Women in the Economy Forum held in Manila, as well as the lead partner of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) in the Inclusive Lending Window for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs (ILAW) program that seeks to provide access to finance for women entrepreneurs. Other regular programs include quarterly WomenBizPH talks and bi-annual conferences, network and business matching, mentorship for entrepreneurial development and research on entrepreneurship.

VP Leni summed up her speech with three important takeaways learned during HUDCC’s listening and environmental scanning stage. First, the voices of communities must be heard; we must listen and find out what they need. Second, LGUs have a huge role to play to make poverty reduction a reality. Finally, there must be metrics that measure outcomes and not activities. She urged the private sector to work hand in hand with government to ensure inclusiveness for all.  I trust that her words fell on fertile ears at AIM and that six years from now, poverty will be a thing of the past. One thing I am sure of, she can count on WomenBizH as a partner in development.