Philippine Business for Social Progress provides self-sustaining programs
As the nation commemorates the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) underscored the need to support the cause of poverty abolition in the country, which has been its mission and purpose since its inception.
PBSP also realizes the need for a concerted effort from the business sector and government to scale up its campaign for this purpose.
“With today’s challenging problems, it is imperative for the private sector to come together to solve it using their various expertise and new strategic approaches and solutions. Only then can we truly make more substantial contributions in eradicating poverty in the country,” said PBSP Executive Director Rafael C. Lopa.
PBSP’s Livelihood and Enterprise Development programs are designed toward achieving collective impact in strengthening and upgrading the value chain of priority sectors, work force development, corporate community partnerships, social entrepreneurship and the microsmall and medium enterprises (MSME) promotion and innovative financing.
Its inclusive business imperative (IBI) campaign is a nationwide advocacy to promote and adopt inclusive business (IB) as a core business activity that embraces the poor within the company’s value chain as suppliers, distributors, consumers or employees in such a manner that creates shared value.
Project Bagong Araw launched early this year aims to revive the sarisari store economy in Supertyphoon Yolanda affected communities. Its goals are to stabilize retail prices of basic commodities and provide people in these areas with access to affordable consumer goods. The project targets the low income women aged 20 to 65, who are microfinance clients in Leyte.
The Small and Medium Enterprise Credit (SMEC) program, which started in 1989, disburses funds to conduit thrift banks, rural banks and microfinance institutions to benefit micro and small enterprises and create and sustain jobs in the countryside.
A key fundraising campaign that PBSP launched in June is Project New Dawn. It is PBSP and its partners’ collective response to the long term rehabilitation needs of the Visayas after Yolanda struck the region in November 2013.
Projects include classroom construction, repair of barangay health stations, provision of school supplies and other learning kits,provision of motorized boats,mangrove reforestation and installation of water systems, among many others (all under the Health, Education, Environment, Livelihood framework). PBSP targeted an initial amount of P160 million to rehabilitate these areas and was able to raise half of the amount as of September 2014.
“PBSP is now gearing towards strategic partnerships that will develop and implement new models, technologies and innovative ways of creating sustainable communities. Through this, I believe we can continue to achieve what our founding members have envisioned PBSP to be—a force for change and an effective bridge of the business community to society,” Lopa said.
Source: Business Mirror, p.4 of B2, October 22, 2014