Freedom, Faith, and Finance:
Paulinians scour for a social change combo

When the Junior Finance Executives (JFINEX) of St. Paul Manila decided to give their “Finance Week” a fresh voice by bringing in the iamninoy movement and tackling the life and times of the hero, they found themselves contemplating about its relevance to the life and times of their target audience:  their caffeine-fueled, IPod-hooked, quickbooks-thinking classmates.

“Students can easily relate with topics like technology and music because they project images of innovation and change. Anything new can be hip. Ninoy died in 1983 and times have changed since then, so the first question that came to our mind was that: Can Ninoy still be hip?” said Elaine Adoptante, president of JFINEX.  “Concepts like social change, freedom, and faith are most of the time discussed in the social science and theology classes, so we were thinking whether business majors could relate with these seemingly abstract topics. Business majors are go-getters. We need to live up to the demands of a business career.  During our preliminary discussions many were asking, what can be the connection between Ninoy and business management? Can Ninoy be business-hip?” 

MTV meets The Apprentice

Responding to these realities, the launch of the iamninoy movement in St. Paul Manila, held last December 12, showcased the ideals and principles that made Ninoy a hero but with fresh pitch-”it was like MTV meets the-apprentice,” said Elaine. It attracted a good number of students as the activity injected a sense of now-ness and practicality to the ideals that Ninoy died for.  Just outside the halls wherein a pictorial essay of Ninoy's life was exhibited, iamninoy merchandise from partner-companies like Team Manila, Bench, Penshoppe and Analog Soul were made available. “The cool factor gets their attention, but once they look into these stuff, they'll realize that these products represent something more,” Rachelle Ann Realo, a JFINEX member, commented.  Freedom, faith and social responsibility are embedded in it. (To) an extent, it allowed us to look into some creative possibilities.  We can be cool, have a business-sense and still be idealistic, like what the guy in the iamninoy video clip said—we can be a hero in our own small way”  

Choosing faith and freedom

The symposium held at the nearby auditorium also had that inspiring and creative atmosphere. While it looked back on history and the evolution of Ninoy as an aggresive young man, a freedom fighter, a leader, and finally, a hero, it tried to explore possible courses of action that young people can do today to bring about social change.   Aquino Foundation's Executive Director, Rapa Lopa traced the “choices” that Ninoy made. History, he asserted, is not just about a record of significant events but more about the choices that various people have made that shaped those events.  Ninoy affirmed his faith and chose to fight for freedom.  As Rapa presented the campaign's battlecry to Paulinians, he emphasized the need for this generation to carefully examine the choices that they are making.  “There is a Ninoy in Paulinians” Rapa said. “We learn from this institution the values of faith and concern for others.  A Paulinian nun named Eva Fidela Maamo, have shown through her various community projects that small efforts can bring about big changes on the lives of people.”  Surprisingly, the St. Paul community has shown support and interest on the initiatives of Sister Eva. “ Paulinians, the alumni, the students, the whole community, in general,  want to do their part, And Sister Eva created a spark that inspires everyone and opened a platform for action.” 

Business of social change

The business of making a difference is not just confined in the realm of foundations and non-profits. Business people can also do their part.  JB Melgazo of Microventures Inc., the company behind the initiative that organizes a chain of sari-sari stores called Hapinoy, shared the concept of social entrepreneurship. “Hapinoy works to give sari-sari store owners the best price, by doing so, it  provides sustainable income opportunities to thousands of households that depend on these retail ventures.” Hapinoy, according to JB, patch-worked the concepts of Mini-stop, Jollibee and Gawad Kalinga.  As a result, they created a hybrid business model that is both profitable and socially relevant. “Setting-up a socially relevant business requires innovation and creativity.  There are a lot of ways to address a social problem.”

What's next

During the open forum, students started asking about possible sources of funding for social enterprises and about the process of creating socially relevant business plans. “We are glad that the talk points out the role of businesses in doing social good,” Elaine said. We realized that business majors like us can be Ninoy. It inspires us to think about starting our own do-good enterprise. With the positive response of Paulinians, we are now thinking about encouraging other business majors to join us in this campaign and advocacy.”