Looking forward after the Summit

The Regional Social Enterprises Summit 2024, held November 28-29 at the Vista Mall Naga, with more than 500 multi-stakeholders in attendance on opening day, ended literally with a bang. It was a huge success that impacted not only the conveners and social enterprises but also poverty reduction, disaster risk mitigation, and overall development in disaster-prone Bicol.

First, all who should come and be invited to the Summit initially scheduled for October 25-26 at Atrium, CBSUA still came in full force despite the devastating typhoons Kristine and Pepito that came in quick succession to Bicol.

The collaboration among five higher educational institutions—MARINERS, CBSUA, NCF, BU, and BISCAST—showcased strong leadership from their presidents and executives. Students and faculty actively participated in festive events, joining MARINERS cadets and majorettes while the CBSUA Choir delivered world-class performances. NCF, BISCAST, and BU provided essential support through booths, media, and scholarly input. Key government offices, including NEDA, DTI, DSWD, DA, CDA, DoST, and DoT, reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing social enterprise development services. The business community, represented by CSCCII and MNCCII, strongly supported social enterprises that aid impoverished individuals. Through Vice Governor Sal Fortuno, Camarines Sur Governor Luigi Villafuerte offered invaluable backing, including technical assistance and evening socials with food at Vista Mall Naga Plaza, where management provided unwavering support. Media outlets like Bicol Mail, DWNX, and One Media carried the summit messages, amplifying these to a broader audience.

On November 27, a day before the Summit, Senator Loren Legarda, UNDRR champion and environmentalist, filed and co-authored Senate Bill No 782 or “An Act Institutionalizing the Poverty Reduction through Social Entrepreneurship (PRESENT) Program  and Promoting Social Enterprises with the Poor as Primary Stakeholders.”  As the Summit Keynote speaker, the Senator was emphatic. She is for an ecosystem that facilitates and supports innovation and entrepreneurial growth in cooperation with all stakeholders, including academe and business, in pursuing sustainable social enterprises.

A respected and multi-award-winning broadcast journalist, she became an outstanding legislator who consistently advocated programs to improve Filipinos’ lives, particularly in environmental protection, climate change mitigation, cultural preservation, and other measures aimed at promoting inclusive and sustainable development; Senator Legarda minced no words that climate change is a significant threat. To build resilience, she called for Bicolanos living in a disaster-prone region to know and be aware of the risks and effects of climate change, create business continuity plans, highlight resilience as a core feature of their operations, and develop strategies that advocate for ecosystem protection and environmental changes ahead.

Third, more than 200 social entrepreneurs and their 58 social enterprises from all six Bicol provinces of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate, and Catanduanes, just recently devastated a few days before the Summit, participated most actively, especially during the Conversations on stage among social entrepreneurs and the workshops about moving forward, articulating their desire for more government interventions and support to provide for more favorable conditions to empower social enterprises with people experiencing poverty as the primary movers and beneficiaries.

Fourth, the best part of the Summit, I agree, was the refreshing insights from the plenary speakers: Dr. Marie Lisa Dacanay, founding president of the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia (ISEA), and Dr. Nory Salonga, Founding Director of the Lasallian Social Enterprise for Economic Development Center of De La Salle University. After the enlightening talks and discussions on the sustainability and inclusivity of economic development in the region, the passage of a distinct law to support these endeavors has become a unified articulation.

Dr. Dacanay, who pioneered studies on social entrepreneurship in the Philippines, extensively discussed social entrepreneurship as a pathway towards poverty reduction, climate action, sustainable development, and the critical role of local SE initiatives in Bicol. Her patience in defining social enterprises from regular MSMEs highlighted the crucial difference that social enterprises explicitly pursue poverty reduction/alleviation as a primary objective. The poor engaged as workers, suppliers, clients, owners, and partners in value chain management, governance &/or pursuit of social change, not just profit as an overarching need.

Dr. Norby Salonga inspired the social entrepreneurs and everyone at the Summit. He concluded that going into business na may puso is precisely what social entrepreneurship is all about. Providing platforms offering social entrepreneurship in schools, as the Institute continues to do for the communities, significantly contributes to inclusive development.

Everyone went home inspired and enthusiastic about pursuing sustainable and resilient negosyo na may puso. The participants pledged a collective commitment to pursuing sustainable and climate-resilient social enterprises in Bicol. They vowed to help realize the 15-ACTION POINTS enunciated by the Tabang Bikol Movement for climate action and push for the immediate passage of the PRESENT bill in the Senate. Indeed, there is much to look forward to for social enterprises: sustainable, resilient, and inclusive.