Social Enterprise Bill

First 100 Days: Sen. Bam Champions Inclusive Growth, Reforms

In his first 100 days in office, Sen. Bam Aquino has proven himself to be a champion of inclusive growth and reform through his bills and other initiatives.

Despite being the youngest senator in the 16th Congress, Aquino has been given the task of leading the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, and the Committee on Youth, owing to his vast experience as a globally awarded social entrepreneur and youth leader.

Inclusive growth push

As part of his commitment to push for inclusive growth, Sen. Aquino hit the ground running by filing a slew of priority measures that aim to empower the poor through jobs, livelihood, and access to market and opportunities.

Among them are the Social Value Bill, the Social Enterprise Bill, the Youth Entrepreneurship Bill, the Go Negosyo Bill, the Microfinance Development Institutions Bill, the Fair Competition Bill, and the “Pagkaing Pinoy para sa Batang Pinoy” Bill.

Aquino believes that these bills, once approved, will help solve poverty by generating more jobs and creating more livelihood opportunities through the promotion of micro, small, and medium-scale businesses.

“For me, inclusive growth needs to go through business. There is no way that we can achieve inclusive growth without engaging our countrymen in jobs or in enterprise building,” the entrepreneur-turned-lawmaker said.

“Para po sa akin, ‘yan ang isang pinakamalinaw na kailangang tahaking daan. Hindi po natin makukuha ang inclusive growth o malawakang kaunlaran kung hindi tayo tutulong sa mga kababayan natin na magnegosyo o magkatrabaho.”

Aquino also co-convened an Inter-Sectoral Committee on Business Empowerment (ISCBE), together with the Department of Finance (DOF), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Landbank, and private sector representatives such as Gawad Kalinga and CARD-MRI. The ISCBE meets regularly to promote greater convergence around government’s inclusive growth agenda and to develop synergistic solutions to unemployment and poverty.

As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, Sen. Aquino also brought together key government agencies and members of the private sector and the academe to push for ease of doing business and to assess the country’s readiness for the ASEAN integration in 2015.

Reforms in governance, youth empowerment

The young lawmaker was also the first legislator to suspend his own Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). He also pushed for its abolition when the so-called P10-billion pork barrel scam was uncovered.

In line with his call to abolish the PDAF, Aquino filed the People’s Fund Bill that will give the people greater control over public funds. Through this measure, taxpayers will be given greater control over where public funds should be allocated.

Sen. Aquino has also filed Senate Bill No. 1090, or the Liga ng Bayaning Kabataan Bill, which seeks to overhaul the current Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) to instill among Filipino youth the true spirit of volunteerism and “save them from the clutches of partisan politics.”

The young senator also convened stakeholders and groups pushing for SK reforms and anti-discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, to further empower these communities and give them a voice.

Aquino expressed confidence that some of his priority measures will be enacted into law, particularly his inclusive growth bills, to help the government in addressing the high unemployment and poverty incidences in the country.

“At the end of the day, if we were able to solve the problem of inclusive growth, we’ll be one step closer to the Philippines that we would want for ourselves,” Aquino said.

ADB Official: PH Bright Example in Development of Social Enterprise

A ranking official of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) believes the Philippines has the potential to become a regional leader and a bright example in the development of social enterprise and inclusive business.
However, ADB vice president Stephen Groff stressed that the government and private sector must “take stronger steps to boost this sector” in this ideal time where there is “explosion and interest in social enterprise”.
“Such growth must rely primarily on local ingenuity, resources and commitment to substantially reduce poverty and deprivation across the country,” Groff said in his speech during the Social Business Summit, which opened last Wednesday at GK’s Enchanted Farm in Angat, Bulacan.
“Gains can be made by forging closer collaboration with international partners who can offer promising approaches, voluntary support, and technical expertise and financial resources,” Groff emphasized.
Groff said the government–both national and local–can serve as advocate and champion by raising awareness and providing finances to those interested in venturing into social enterprises.
“The government can also lead by example through the procurement of quality goods and services. It will help create a virtual cycle that will allow these social enterprises to grow,” he added.
The private sector, for its part, could sponsor a “bootcamp” to identify social problems, define change, construct business model and measure social impact.
SUPPORTING LEGISLATION
Earlier, Senator Bam Aquino, the first social entrepreneur to be elected as senator, filed a number of bills that aim to support social enterprises and redefine the concept of social value in government spending.
Senate Bill No. 1026, otherwise known as the “Social Enterprise Bill,” aims to establish a Poverty Reduction Though Social Entrepreneurship (PRESENT) Program that will “provide a nurturing environment for the growth and burgeoning of strong and innovative social enterprises as tools to reduce poverty”.
Sen. Aquino also filed Senate Bill No. 1029, also known as the Social Value Bill, which redefines “value for money” for government procurement as going beyond products and services with the lowest price, to those which offer “the greatest collective benefit to the community.”
The young lawmaker earlier said, “Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that, as the country grows, more Filipinos are able to grow with us. Now that the Philippines is growing at a phenomenal rate and all eyes are on our economy, now is the time to make sure that no one gets left behind.”

Convergence Needed for Inclusive Growth — Sen. Bam Aquino

At the 2nd Inclusive Business Forum organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), and the Asian Social Enterprise Incubator, Inc. (ASEI) on September 16, 2013, Sen. Bam Aquino challenged government, the private sector, and civil society to work together to promote inclusive growth through Inclusive Business.

Inclusive Business refers to private enterprises whose businesses were designed to address pressing social needs. It takes poor people out of poverty by linking them to larger value chains and giving them access to markets, financing, sustainable livelihood, mentoring and support systems, and other necessary ingredients for development.

According to Markus Dietrich and Armin Bauer of the ADB, “Inclusive Business in the Philippines can be adopted to realize the government’s inclusive growth goals, such as creating more employment for the poor… and providing better services, especially in housing, health, energy and education.”

“One problem in enabling inclusive businesses would be convergence. You have agencies supporting social enterprises and inclusive business practices on their own, but we still need to see these agencies working together,” Sen. Aquino pointed out.

Aquino, a globally awarded social entrepreneur before being elected into the Senate, talked about four major pillars of enabling inclusive growth.

“First, we need to push ease of doing business. It will help not only inclusive business, but also the whole private sector.”

“Second, support for MSMEs—whether it’s through better financing, shared services, and subsidies, to a certain extent.”

“We also need to start implementing laws better,” Sen. Aquino pointed out. “We already have a lot of laws that support MSMEs, but they are not being implemented.”

Aquino also talked about two priority pieces of legislation: the Social Enterprise Bill, and another bill that he will soon file, an Inclusive Business Bill.

“I think the best way to go about legislation is for the practitioners to tell us what the sector needs,” he added.

“We’re sure that our colleagues from the Senate and from Congress will support laws supporting inclusive businesses and social enterprises, but again, the convergence needs to happen.”

The senator likewise cited that “there is a lot of willingness from the private sector to collaborate… but government has to jumpstart the collaboration.”

“It’s best if different agencies are already working with the private sector on pilot programs and learning from that experience, then we institutionalize everything a necessary piece of legislation.”

“The challenge is to get all of the players in place to begin talking to each other and working together,” the lawmaker reiterated.

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