Tropical depression Crising brought rains and gusty winds to Metro Cebu last Tuesday, upsetting Liberal Party’s (LP) plans for its proclamation rally, but it was just another working day for media workers.
In the morning, many were gathered at the Marco Polo Plaza in Lahug, Cebu City for the weekly 888 News Forum. A few hours later, some of us proceeded to the nearby Waterfront Hotel to chit-chat with reelectionist Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano. Later in the afternoon, co-workers covered the LP rally at the Tabunok Sports Complex in Talisay City.
I joined a handful of columnists at lunch with Senator Cayetano, who is in the administration Senate slate. He came in with Provincial Board Member Miguel Magpale, son of Acting Cebu Gov. Agnes Magpale.
Among all senatorial candidates from both sides of the political spectrum, Cayetano enjoys a slight edge because of the media mileage gained by his public quarrel with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE).
As we know, Senators Cayetano and Miriam Defensor Santiago challenged the authority of JPE and his unequal distribution of savings in the Senate’s maintainance and other operating expenditures (MOOEs). The Senate President defended his actions citing his discretionary power over the MOOEs but Senators Cayetano, Santiago, Antonio Trillanes IV and Alan Peter’s sister Pia think this is illegal and should be reviewed by the Commission on Audit.
The public quarrel has opened up a can of worms and has put Enrile and Cayetano in the limelight, but whether the public approves their actions or not will be settled in the coming May elections.
Nowadays, Cayetano and Manong Johnny seldom bump into each other but one of the fresh materials I picked up during lunch is that JPE keeps a baul (wooden box) where secret files or dossiers of people are kept kuno.
That’s interesting in the sense that it jives with JPE’s image as Martial Law architect. Also, if JPE’s baul contained only the supposed debts that Alan Peter’s father, the late senator Rene Cayetano owed the Senate President, then he must have nothing on the young solon.
My impression of Senator Cayetano is that he thinks out of the box.
The electoral campaign is an opportunity to gain visibility and boost his popularity ratings (he’s ranked between 3 and 4 in Social Weather Station and Pulse Asia surveys) but instead of handshaking, kissing babies, doing pictorials or media interviews and mouthing motherhood statements, he is constantly on the move, interacting with constituencies. His goal is to look for bottoms-up strategies that would translate the 6.6-per cent economic growth into real benefits for the poor and underprivileged.
Cayetano said voters should ask candidates for the “how,” that is, specifics of programs for better education, health and micro-financing. He recently made the rounds of the bulaklakan or Dangwa flower market in Manila, conversed with tricycle drivers in Taguig and found out that most of them deal with loan sharks for added capital.
Last Tuesday, he tried soliciting media’s opinion if it was a good idea to give the poor added capital through the Cooperative Development Authority CDA or to another office.
I got interested about the subject because I have been interacting with a number of co-operatives in the Visayas and Mindanao for three years now and my interest in the sector has led me to serve in Cebu’s NewsCoop as chairman of the Credit Committee.
A rare opportunity of attending the 2011 Pathways to Inclusive Growth conference held by the Asian Institute of Management and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility also gave me insights in the way other countries shape their pro-poor strategies. On Senator Cayetano’s thought balloon, I said he might be interested to follow up on the present administration’s thrust to consider co-operatives with best practices as a funds conduit because they have a solid track record in handling co-op funds and social projects for at least two decades.
The Aquino administration is well –advised because many small-sized co-ops have grown tremendously during the past 15 to 20 years and have in fact become drivers of economic development in their home bases.
A case in point is the Escalante Public and Private and Schoolteachers and Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Escalante City, Negros Occidental which started with a paid capital of over P6,000. EPSTEMPCO’s current assets have grown to more than P200 million but the Co-op is not resting on its laurels and has lined up ambitious projects like housing program for its members. They are also active in the rehabilitation of northern Negros’ coastal areas and denuded forests. That EPSTEMPCO rose from the ashes of the Escalante massacre in 1985 makes its experience even more compelling.
I can also cite the journey of the Perpetual Help Credit Cooperative PHCCI MPC in Tacloban City, which practically grew from rags to riches. It was started by people who knew nothing about credit unions but is now a billionaire co-op with more than 81 thousand members. PHCCI is currently working with CDA in helping the poorest of the poor through financial literacy programs and suitable lending services.
Senator Cayetano should look into the Co-op model more closely because there is no need to reinvent the wheel. I hope he interacts with Co-operators more frequently because they offer effective solutions that not only transform marginal communities but also enable local governments to address social services.