THE Philippine education sector must adopt a paradigm shift to boost creative and innovation among the youth, especially those who belong to the marginalized sector of society.
“Generally, education has not created a scenario that promotes entrepreneurship,” said Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman of the board of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and chairman and CEO of Ayala Corp., during the panel discussion of the recently concluded BPI Sinag Awards held in Makati City.
Jose Ma. Concepcion III, president and CEO of RFM Corp., emphasized the need to deliver quality instruction on science and technology to foster innovation among the youth. He cited the presence of numerous variety stores (sari-sari) in the country as a manifestation of the dearth of creativity among the population. Although these stores promote micro entrepreneurship, he said that sari-sari stores do not bring real benefit to the economy: The owners cannot move up the value chain, because they don’t have innovative ideas to advance their business.
Concepcion said there is also an important need to bring in the right mentors to help the microentrepreneurs. He said Republic Act 10644, also known as the Go Negosyo Act, authored by Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, is a big boost to the gospel of entrepreneurship among the country’s population.
The law aims to establish Negosyo centers to help entrepreneurs access the single registration system. Through these Negosyo centers, applicants will have an easier time for registration as compared to the current system.
The Negosyo centers will be under the supervision of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Council, which will coordinate with local government units (LGUs) to fulfill the functions of the centers.
“But these centers would fail if they don’t bring the right mentors,” Concepcion said. “There’s a dire need of bright mentors to guide people belonging to the bottom of the pyramid.”
Ayala said the private sector will also have to help in fostering creativity. Meanwhile, Paul Andrew Orpiada and Leciel Ramos of Karaw Craftventures won the top prize in the first-ever BPI Sinag Pitch Day, organized by the BPI Foundation, in collaboration with the Ateneo Center for Social Entrepreneurship and BPI Family Ka-Negosyo. The grand awardee also received a credit line of up to P500,000 from BPI Family Ka-Negosyo while a credit line of up to P200,000 was also given to the other four awardees.
BPI Sinag is a business-plan competition aimed at empowering young Filipino entrepreneurs with a social mission. Over 150 entries from around the Philippines were submitted to the BPI Foundation, 40 of which were chosen to go through a social entrepreneurship boot camp and the best 10 going on to participate at the BPI Sinag Pitch Day.
“We knew that we wanted to tap and empower millennials—this young and energetic generation of idealists, doers and changemakers, whose purpose is just as important as profit. The youth see all kinds of connections and possibilities, and are filled to the brim with ideas on how to make the world a better place. Let’s make the most of the BPI Sinag experience and use it as a platform for dreams of a better Philippines, to actually happen,” said Fidelina Corcuera, executive director, BPI Foundation.