Fostering the greatest equalizer

By MARK LOUIS F. REFFOLINO
Business World

FOR visionary tycoon Washington Z. SyCip, his retirement allowed him to be more involved in various projects that uplift the lives of many Filipinos, especially the poor.
It was in 1996 when he retired as the chairman and partner of SGV & Co., the largest professional services firm in the country. His pursuit to alleviate poverty deepens as he digs through the roots of poverty — the high dropout rates in basic education, the high cost of credit to the poor, and the insufficient actions to improve health in rural areas. He firmly believes that basic education is an instrument to end poverty and achieve progress for the country.
In his speech delivered before the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) in 2007, he said that education in the Philippines is given less priority compared to its neighboring countries like Malaysia and Singapore. According to him, the country spends least on education making it woefully inadequate, misaligned and misdirected.
“Neglecting the many problems of education, of high dropout rates, poor teaching of Math, Science and English is like slowly committing national suicide… It’s so clear to me that education is a long term process. They’re always thinking of short­term political convenience. Compared to our neighbors, we’re not moving as fast because our per­capita spending on education has gone down,” he said
As early as 1966, Mr. SyCip committed to focus on education as he established the SGV Foundation together with co­founder Alfredo M. Velayo and partners Cesar E.A. Virata, Benjamin V. Abela and Erlinda T. Villanueva.
The foundation has provided scholarships to professionals who are studying accounting, agricultural economics, business administration, computer science and entrepreneurship. It also financed scholarshipsin vocational training and computer science education, and established the Faculty Development Program that helps teachers improve their way of teaching through different development programs.
Mr. SyCip said in his biography, Wash: Only a Bookkeeper, by Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr., that he wanted to develop social consciousness among his partners by showing some concerns for the country and community. He encouraged them to contribute part of their annual earnings to the foundation by setting the example himself — contributing larger than anyone else. In adherence to its purpose, the foundation has undertaken various program and projects, and has worked with other foundations to achieve social, moral and economic development of communities and families.
Embracing the initiative by heart, he also urged organizations to include basic education in their corporate social responsibility initiatives. In 1970, Mr. SyCip along with Sixto Roxas and other leading business executives established the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), encouraging different companies to donate its one percent net income for poverty alleviation and for a foundation that would provide professional assistance to the marginalized sectors.
From its initial 50 member-companies, PBSP is now the largest business sector­led social development organization in the country committed to uplift the lives of Filipinos through programs on Health, Education, Environment, and Livelihood and Enterprise Development (HEEL).
Furthermore, Mr. SyCip worked closely with Dr. Milwida M. Guevara of Synergeia Foundation, where he ascribed his knowledge in basic education. Synergeia Foundation is a coalition of individuals, institutions and organizations that work together to enhance the quality of basic education in the country. Its programs are designed to decrease dropout rates and improve the learning and teaching processes in public elementary schools.
To promote basic education, Mr. SyCip conceptualized, initiated and funded the Zero Dropout Education Scheme (Zero Dropout) program through the WS Family Foundation. It has a bold vision to reduce the dropout rate to zero percent by encouraging parents to continuously send their children to school and complete their elementary education. The Zero Dropout program was implemented by the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development — Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), designed to support all school expenses of the children through loan amounting from PI,000 to P3,000 at a monthly interest rate of one percent.
“The poorer you are the morechildren you have, and the more children you have, half of them are in school and the other half, they have no money for buying paper, pencil, very simple thing. So, the main thing is, how to provide for that again? You may say that how do you lend money to poor people, and expect to collect? I learned in life, I experienced it…the poor are more honest than therich.” Mr. SyCip said in a recentinterview with BusinessWorld.
Based on CARD MRI’s report for the Kazarian­SyCipFund, as of June 2016, the Zero Dropout program has provided financial assistance to 310,402 members with 330,654 children in elementary education and some high school students with total loan disbursement of PI,058,825,300 and repayment Rate of 99.28%.
As Mr. SyCip wrote in his birthday piece for BusinessWorld in 2011, “Being a public school graduate, I have always maintained that education is the greatest of equalizers. We all can help in improving the lives of our people through better basic education.” — Mark Louis F. Ferrolino