By Jade Angelo Gascon

Among the problems that confront the Philippines today are economic insufficiency, lack of opportunities, increasing criminality, political unrest and environmental injustice. Many Christian churches and organizations recognize that they should play a role in mitigating the causes and effects of these problems. However, they often fall short in producing ideas and conjuring practicable solutions that would make them efficient agents of change on a social level. A lot of Christian churches and organizations usually lack mechanisms and manpower to come up with potent and concrete solutions that would address these problems mainly because of their inclination to spiritualize issues at the expense of “works” without which faith is dead.

CSRSME Chairman Mr. Ben Quiñones Jr. discusses bayanihan economy principles to a diverse group of people's organizations

The On Eagle’s Wings Foundation (OEWF) Christian in its values and foundation, held a consultation meeting on March 13, 2010 in cooperation with CSRSME Asia (Coalition of Socially Responsible Small and Medium Enterprises in Asia), and KAMMMPI (Kapisanan ng Magsasaka, Manggagawa at Magsasaka Inc. – Association of Farmers, Workers and Fishermen of the Philippines Inc.), in order to elaborate on the Foodbank project which aims to strengthen food security for the benefit of farmers and urban poor families.

The 313 participants (89 males, 224 females) came from various cities in MetroManila such as Caloocan, Makati, Manila, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City and San Juan, and nearby provinces such as Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.

Over 300 delegates participated in the consultation. Here they join the community singing.

They also represented 61 people’s organizations coming from diverse backgrounds: from transport groups to churches, microfinance groups, cooperatives, vendors’ associations and urban poor organizations.

Ptr. Ed De Guzman, Chairman of On Eagle’s Wings Development Foundation (Philippines) and Board Member of CSRSME Asia, exhorted delegates and organizers to pursue the Philippines’s prophetic destiny to be a blessed nation of God that will bless other nations as well by consecrating themselves to the purposes of God.

He also added that the diverse body of Christ in the Philippines must unite toward the fulfillment of this vision. And socially responsible organizations and cooperatives can also be used by the Lord to advance his Kingdom dominion.

Part of the program gave participants the opportunity to interact with panelists who are knowledgable on solidarity economy practices and CSRSME's advocacies. Among the panelists were Ptr. Ed De Guzman, Mr. Ben Quiñones Jr., entrepreneur Myrna Villanueva, and community leaders Ptr. Jun Pasagui and Ptr. Mike Cabahug

OEWF and CSRSME Asia, both socially responsible organizations, can be used by God to end poverty in the Philippines. A significant, concrete solution that the group offers are paradigm-shifting training courses that transform people’s mindsets into entrepreneurial and innovative ones. This kind of worldview empowers societies to end poverty.

In addition, OEWF offers sustained discipleship under its Social Entrepreneurship and Discipleship Program (SEDP) and the mentorship of socially responsible individuals. The Foodbank project is one of the avenues for entrepreneurial discipleship.

The Foodbank will seek to revolutionize the distribution of agricultural produce into urban communities by eliminating exploitative cartels and oppressive economic practices that have been salient features of Philippine agricultural economy.

With the help of another collaborating organization, the Shared Vision Cooperative (SVC), the Foodbank project shall form area coordination clusters that will strategize for and organize subsidiary Foodshops. The Foodshop Coordinators shall be trained in handling and managing the program, and in mobilizing communities that will unite to secure access to affordable agricultural products.

SVC’s Bayanihan Cash Card (BaCC) shall be instrumental in facilitating the Foodbank financial transactions and in mentoring both farmer producers and urban consumers to be wise financial stewards.

Microfinance groups OK (Opportunity Kauswagan) Bank, a founding member of the largest Christian social development network in the country, and ASKI (Alalay sa Kaunlaran sa Gitnang Luzon) have pledged support to the program by providing services such as deposits and loans and other personality improvement training.

Should the Foodbank project find success in the hands of socially responsible united communities, the world shall witness in the Philippines an unprecedented economic revolution initiated by Christians who are in loving pursuit of the cause of God for the Philippines.

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by Ian Naldo,   CSRSME Asia/NYSL

United we stand, united we envisioned great things to come, and united we will continue the learning journey. Today we will plant the seed of our hope and tomorrow we will see a better Philippines.

Our vision has led us to this point – that is, the conduct of the Bayanihan Youth Camp.  We had taken our little steps.  All we had to do is to put our ideas into action. Our actions revolutionized us and gave us the privilege of being one of the few individuals in the country who advance Solidarity Economy.

We also had to say “I, myself, will do it”.  I will be the first to do something about my vision for my country, by practicing social responsibility to my organization and community, by inspiring the lives of others, by sharing them the love of God, and by being an active member of the CSRSME Asia think tank group. We have to be our own practitioner of our vision and mission. We need commitment to see our vision through for our beloved country.

Along the way we had doubts and fears in performing our responsibilities and responding to the needs of the people. But we realized that it is our duty to motivate our generation to rise up and build God’s Kingdom, the economy, the nation.

With limited resources we will prove that our vision and dreams will ascend to the heights of heavens. We will defy the rule of the old economy. We will take a stand for change to take place in this country and for the benefit of its people.

Mary Rose Rontal is working as an Assisting Professional in a USAID-funded project that focus on implementing strategic actions for environmental management while observing the principles of transparency, accountability and participatory decision-making in the local government units…

Feeding the piggy bank is what I and my husband taught Amyrrh, our one-year old son. We save every ten-peso coin we collect during the day from buying something or paying a fare.  We save it in my baby’s piggy bank ever since he was still in my tummy. Now, he’s already enjoying the feeding time of his “piggy”.

However, I can personally say that my or my family’s saving habit is poor because we only save every time we got a ten-peso coin, otherwise, no savings happened.

As an economist, I know that savings should come first before spending your money. Yet, I am not practicing it. The idea to save comes across my mind every time I can think of something I want to have in the future like house and lot, car, clothes and Amyr’s education. Bad thing is, the moment I received my salary, no thought of saving. All I can think of are the payments for my debts, my baby’s milk, the showing on the cinema, the food I craved to eat prior to my payday, groceries for the week, transportation expenses, board and lodging expenses, latest gadgets, everything except the thing called Savings.

I tend to ask how, when and where to save my money. How to start? When to start? And where is the most secured place to save? I already heard several financial institutions that did not succeed, got the money of their investors and become thief of the night, or they just simply bankrupted because of bad management. The uncertainty of financial institutions makes me anxious to save and invest in any particular financial institution.

It was then during the BSV workshop that I appreciated more the importance of Saving. I was enlightened with the idea of saving not just for myself but for the economy, more importantly for the small and medium enterprises, which I know is the “backbone” of the Philippine economy.

As an individual, I am not quite aware of the specific things I can do to help achieve a better state of nation, but thanks to my dear friend Jerick who invited me to join the BSV Workshop. It is very interesting to know that I am sharing the same vision with my groupmates and with other groups. As a Christian, as an economist and as an environmentalist, I was delighted to know that all of us hope for a “God-fearing” nation, a stable economy and a sustainable environment. These three aspects are underscored and for me, these characterized a perfect country. Though we are different individuals, yet we found out that we have common hopes for our country and that we are not just driven by our selfish desires but of what is good for the Filipinos a whole. That was indeed a “shared vision”.

I was also awakened on the topic “Learning Organization”, which made me realize my learning disabilities that I am not quite aware of for a long time. No wonder we hardly reach our goals in life. Now, I’m excited to share it with my colleagues.

As a whole, the one-day workshop on “Building Shared Vision” was indeed very informative. In fact, I would like to know more about the technical side of the cooperative, its management and operation, how to become a member, what are the logistical requirements to become an official member of the cooperative and the sustainable mechanisms of the organization. I think this should be discussed more during the Pre-Membership Education Seminar (PMES) which I believe is one of the requirements prior to being a member of any cooperative.

Further, I am glad that this concept was introduced to Filipinos. Though savings, credit and investments are not new to me but combining the three, with emphasis to “savings” in order to achieve a “Solidarity Economy” is relatively a new and fascinating concept. It is a good news that I find it very interesting to share with my networks of family, friends and colleagues. Indeed, I myself even want to conduct the same workshop to groups of people I know. Aside from that, I also want to see myself as part of the “think tank” of the CSRSMEAsia and be able to contribute in the development of concepts and designs that are worth implementing for the development of our community.

“Big things come from small beginnings.”

By Alfred P. Mercene, 17 years old, Youth Coordinator, Pinoy Family Foundation Inc.

The BAYANIHAN YOUTH CAMP  has been one of the events that I’m certain will fulfill the Lord’s glory in the land of the Philippines. This result oriented event was held in the city of Calamba, Laguna around the green haven of The Lord’s Garden (Looc, Calamba Laguna).  Otherwise called the “Building shared vision (BSV)” youth camp, the event supports the brilliant and eloquent minds of the youth, molding them to become more responsible, socially aware citizens of the country.  The event organizers (On Eagle’s Wings Foundation, OEWF and CSRSME Asia) are called to equip more and more young leaders that will revolutionize and emphasize the growth of solidarity economy in our beloved homeland, the Philippines. There is no doubt that behind this fruitfull event, CHANGE will come and the hand of the Almighty God will amazingly boost the emergence of more  servant leaders in the land of Juan. Through intensive and realistic approach of the BSV facilitators, these young brains and purpose driven minds will surely develop their gifts, talents and prowess to the benefit of the community. The Bayanihan Youth Camp exposes participants to the opportunities and privileges of becoming young servant leaders of our respective communities, and maybe in the near future, the world.

Personally, given the privilege to be a delegate in this building shared vision event, I couldn’t help but be struck by the broad and more vast world of society that I have been living in but never been socially aware of nor associated with. I never thought for even just a second that there is really a need of solidarity in the economy at this present state of JUAN. Different ideas, different battle cries,  and elusive goals bombarded our eyes, but the question is ,  What do we really fight for? Do we have a vision? And do we have what it takes to achieve this vision, make it happen? These mind boggling questions really occupied my mind the minute I arrived at the first session of this BSV camp. It is really disturbing to see, feel and admit that this land is still drowned asnd polluted by corruption. Corruption that takes away not only our riches, but our own identity. The true Filipino blood that once delivered us from the clutches of colonialism by foreign invaders and now we are penalizing our country by our own actions! – by not commiting ourselves to what really is JUST.  I learned in this event to revitalize my vision, to make it more profitable not only to myself but my beloved fellows. I stand for strengthening the unity of shared vision, to make it happen, promote and get it concretized for our beloved country. Together we the participants of the OEWF-CSRSME Asia Bayanihan Youth Camp strongly believe in our vision that this country, our Philippines will be a God Centered country when a character revolution will occur as a result of collective implementation of shared visions. We believe that we can surpass this ever changing times through the guidance of the Almighty God and with the strength of solidarity among ourselves!

Being a volunteer and a participant of the Asian Forum for Solidarity Economy 2007 has enlarged my perspective. I have learned a new initiative called SOLIDARITY ECONOMY and that is what I’d like to tell you about. Not because I am a niece of Mr. Ben R. Quiñones, the event organizer, that automatically means I am widely informed about this topic. (Embarrassing as it seems, it’s quite the contrary). Since I learned to develop a hunger for knowledge, I kept an open mind to the discussions and whatever information that was available.

During the Asian Forum Stakeholders Assembly on October 20 2007, the last day of the Asian Forum, the delegates were asked how they understood Solidarity Economy. Though I am still a neophyte in this matter, and it seems to be a new concept in the field of economics, I would like to share with you how I understood Solidarity Economy and the role played by the Asian Forum in advancing it in this nation.

Solidarity Economy is an alternative economy which seeks to serve the greater good of the people. Market-oriented economy is “PROFIT-centered”, while Solidarity Economy is PEOPLE-centered. This contrast was amplified by former DILG Sec. Joey Lina during one of the Asian Forum sessions I attended.

Economics teaches us that stakeholders in an economy can be typified into four major groups – the investors, the producers, the service providers and the consumers. Since each group wants to obtain profit for itself, there exists a conflict of interests between them. The investor wants to lend money at a higher interest rate, but the producer would want to borrow at a lower interest rate. In turn, the producer wants to sell his produce at a high price while the consumer would haggle for a lower price. Self-interest oriented and profit-centered, it truly is.

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April 1st, 2009 by webmaster | Filed under Economic Justice, Organizing, Pushing Obama, Youth Insurgency, trade unions.

The Solidarity Economy Movement

Emerges in Its First U.S. Conference

By Carl Davidson
SolidarityEconomy.Net

Nearly 400 organizers and activists gathered at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst March 19-22 for the first national gathering of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network, exceeding the expectations of its organizers.

The deepening economic crisis made the meeting quite timely. The overall theme was ‘Building Another World,’ and drew participants  from the East Coast, South and Midwest of the US, even Alaska and Puerto Rico. Internationally, delegations came from Quebec, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, and Canada. People represented economic justice and green jobs projects, food coops and credit unions, worker coops and labor unions, and peace and justice organizing efforts.

“Our diversity was very dynamic and creative,” said Julie Matthaei, a USSEN coordinating committee member. “It served us well in affirming our unity, discussing differences, and helping us reach a deeper understanding of the solidarity economy in our context.”

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