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CITY OF
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
will personally confer awards to Pampanga’s most
inspiring entrepreneurs today, Monday, a highlight
kicking off the latest leg of the Philippine Center for
Entrepreneurship’s (PCE) entrepreneurial campaign Go
Negosyo sa Pampanga.
PCE
executive director Ramon Lopez said the President will
be joined by Presidential Consultant for
Entrepreneurship and PCE founding trustee Jose
Concepcion III in awarding her cabalens who, through
their businesses, have helped develop Pampanga as a new
frontier for progress.
The
awardees are: Ryan Razon of Razon’s; Jose Bituin of
Betis Crafts; Jaime Uy of Saver’s Mall; the Garcia
Family of the Mekeni Food Corp.; Lolita Hizon of
Pampanga’s Best; Michael Escaler of the Pampanga Sugar
Development Corp. (Pasudeco); Willy Tan of Hausland;
Peter Nepomuceno of the Nepo Group of Companies; Teresa
Carlos-David of the Bank of Florida; Dr. Emmanuel
Angeles of the Angeles University Foundation (AUF); and
Fatima del Rosario of Sasmuan Delicacies.
“The 11
awardees to be recognized in Pampanga will serve as role
models for the youth to provide a mindset for the youth
as well as show the faces behind the brands that they
are familiar with,” Lopez said.
Lopez
said Go Negosyo, slated at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention
Center, is a one-day affair aimed at offering the public
with business opportunities through exhibits and
discussions to be led by some of the country’s
well-respected entrepreneurs.
Speakers
include Ronald Pineda of Folded and Hung, Les Reyes of
Reyes Haircutters, and Dr. Rolando Hortaleza of Splash
Corp.
“It is
part of the PCE’s latest endeavor, the Go Negosyo
Caravan, which seeks to bring Go Negosyo’s
entrepreneurial revolution to key cities outside Metro
Manila,” Lopez said at a press conference here
Wednesday.
Lopez
said more than 30 companies in the cities they have
visited have become PCE’s partners in advocating
entrepreneurship. He said some are even competitors when
it comes to business but cited their
partner-entrepreneurs have a common denominator: They
share a common interest to help the people and the
country forward.
“Go
Negosyo is PCE’s advocacy promoting entrepreneurship and
a mindset of entrepreneurship among the people,
especially the youth.
Since
last year, we have been going to other cities to share
with them our mission of empowering the people by giving
them business advice and frameworks and create
innovative products. It is our way of inspiring
participants attending our seminars to talk about
business opportunities,” he said.
“We are,
at the same time, promoting optimism and a culture of
entrepreneurship in a country where most people seem to
be pessimistic and negativists,” he added.
Lopez
said although they do not provide funding, they have
links with microfinancing institutions to which they
refer those that seek funding once equipped with
entrepreneurial know-how.
“In our
coordination with the Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce
and Industry Inc. (MACCII) and the Pampanga Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (PamCham), we have learned that
Kapampangans are very entrepreneurial as seen by their
ability to turn a problem, such as the Pinatubo
eruption, into opportunities,” he said.
For his
part,
Concepcion said PCE is focused on promoting entrepreneurship among the
people of Pampanga “to serve as a beacon of hope despite
the economic challenges of the times.” |
