Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia
Marie Lisa Dacanay
President, Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia
PRESENT Multisectoral Forum Series Launch; June 29, 2012

ABC of Poverty Reduction
through Social Entrepreneurship
 PRESENT as Aspiration
 The PRESENT Bill
 The PRESENT Coalition
 Convergence for PRESENT

PRESENT as ASPIRATION

“Social entrepreneurship entails innovations
designed to explicitly
improve societal well-being,
housed within
entrepreneurial organizations,
which initiate, guide or
contribute to change in society”
(Perrini, 2006)

Social Entrepreneurship:
GLOBAL PHENOMENON: RESPONSE TO CRISIS
US:
◦ economic downturn in 70s and 80s  huge cutbacks of
federal funding to NGOs
Europe:
◦ crisis of welfare states in 80s  retreat from public services +
phenomenon of structural unemployment  WISE
Countries in the South/Philippines:
◦ continuing crisis of development in 90s: massive
poverty and inequality
 SE-PPS: Social Enterprises with the Poor as
Primary Stakeholders

Social Enterprise with the Poor as Primary
Stakeholders (SE-PPS):
social mission- driven wealth creating organizations
Private enterprise Social enterprise
Stockholders/ Primary Poor /Marginalized sectors:
proprietors: owners of stakeholders/ engaged as suppliers, workers,
capital beneficiaries clients and/or owners; partners
in poverty reduction
Single bottom line: Primary Double or triple bottom line:
profit objectives poverty reduction, (social),
environmental; financial
sustainability as supportive
objective
Accumulative: enrich Enterprise Distributive: positive benefits
individual owners of philosophy accrue to society specially
capital oftentimes with among broad segments of poor
negative social and
environmental costs

Social Enterprises with the Poor
as Primary Stakeholders (SE-PPS)
AS INNOVATIVE CHANGE AGENTS
provide the poor a combination of
transactional and transformational services:
‘Poverty as deprivation of basic capabilities’(Sen,1999; 2009)
not just low income
positively contribute to creation of economic
and social value: much of value created not
recognized by mainstream market economy
use combination of principles as actors in
economic development: market, redistribution
reciprocity, solidarity, sustainability

PRESENT: Developing SE-PPS as Partners
of Poor in Strategic Economic Subsectors
 Single social enterprise interventions  limited
in terms of impact and sustainability
 Importance of interventions at the level of
economic subsectors  network of related
actors and enterprises performing various
functions in competing value chains; may be
identified by major raw material source,
finished product or final service provided

PRESENT: Developing SE-PPS as Partners of
Poor in Strategic Economic Subsectors
 Strategic Economic Subsectors
◦ have a potential for growth
◦ large numbers of the poor are players or could
become players
 Examples of strategic economic subsectors
where SE-PPS are already playing key roles:
coco coir, muscovado sugar, organic rice, essential oils,
bamboo, educational toys , school chairs, brewed coffee

Pilipinas Ecofiber: Social Enterprise Value
Chain Intervention in Coco Coir Subsector
Coco fiber Coir ropes Geonets,
Coconut plant liners, Final
& &
husks trays, etc. sale
cocopeat mats
 Engaged in the extraction of fiber & peat from coconut husks, and the
processing of fiber into high quality stitched & woven coir products for
sale in the Philippines and abroad.
Weavers &
Plant
Husk Rural workers Edgers Traders
Rural coops workers Associat’ns
collectors Twining
direct
Plant
agents workers
buyers
 Organized to link input providers, small producers & processors, with
traders & distributors of various coir products, and to coordinate the
activities of the former in order to meet the requirements of final users.

Poverty Reduction through
Social Entrepreneurship (PRESENT)
◦ Aspiration of SE-PPS to scale
up impact through innovative
partnerships with government

THE PRESENT BILL
Partnership with Congress to
institutionalize Poverty
Reduction Through Social
Entrepreneurship

PRESENT Bill: Main Features
 Objective:
◦ Provide a nurturing environment for the
development and growth of social enterprises as
major vehicles for poverty reduction
 Enacts:
◦ planning and implementation of a National Poverty
Reduction Through Social Entrepreneurship
(PRESENT) Program
◦ led by a Commission on Social Enterprises under the
Office of the President

PRESENT Bill: Main Features
 National PRESENT Program:
◦ Development of strategic economic subsectors with
potentials for growth and where the poor are
concentrated or could be major players
◦ Benefits to the poor: increased incomes and
capability to improve their means of living
  as workers, suppliers, clients and/or owners of SEs in
strategic economic subsectors
  as partners in economic and social development
◦ Overall Outcome: substantive poverty reduction

PRESENT Bill:
Support Programs for SE-PPS
 Provision of accessible non-collateralized
loans thru special credit windows with a
Guarantee Fund Pool
 Comprehensive insurance system to reduce
vulnerability to climate change/calamities
 Resources for comprehensive capacity
development for SEs and poor as partners

PRESENT Bill:
Support Programs for SE-PPS
 Mainstream SE content in formal
educational system
 Proactive SE market development program
promoting principles of fair trade
 R&D on strategic economic subsectors;
appropriate technologies; and innovations
to democratize access of poor to quality
basic social services
 Recognition and support for LGUs in
developing social enterprises

PRESENT Bill:
Incentives for SE-PPS
 Preferential treatment in government
procurement including coverage of
performance bonds
 Tax exemptions and tax breaks for SE-PPS and
social investors
 Cash incentives (i.e. at least 25% of minimum
wage for social enterprises employing PWDs)

PRESENT Bill Initiative: Strategic Rationale
◦ PRESENT Bill as a codification of agenda for
change to assist poor overcome poverty resulting
from state and market failures thru their effective
participation in SE-PPS
◦ PRESENT Bill as codification of incentives and
support for SE-PPS as major partners of
government in poverty reduction

THE PRESENT COALITION
Microcosm, Voice and Action
Network of Emerging SE Sector

PRESENT Coalition: main actors
 Co-Convenors: FSSI & Ateneo Sch of Gov’t
 Members of Steering Committee include
◦ PhilSEN
◦ WFTO-Asia/Philippines
◦ INAFI-Philippines
◦ Eagle’s Wings Dev’t Foundation
◦ Bote Central/ Philippine Coffee Alliance
◦ Pilipinas Ecofiber Corporation
◦ Hapinoy/MVI
◦ Foundation for TheseAbled
◦ PRRM
◦ ISEA

PRESENT Coalition: initiative to unite
what was once a fragmented sector
 Basis of Unity:
o Push for the enactment and implementation of the
PRESENT Bill
o Undertake a nationwide education campaign on
SE
as vehicles for poverty reduction
o Develop standards and benchmarks for self-
regulation and development of sector

PRESENT Coalition: Microcosm, Voice and
Action Network of Emerging SE Sector
 Informed estimate of Philippine SE sector: +/- 30,000
 Various Actors:
◦ Fair Trade Organizations (crafts, agri-business, processed food)
◦ CSO-initiated SEs serving various segments of the poor (agri-based
processing; trading and marketing in upland, lowland, coastal
communities; important players in sustainable agriculture and forestry-
related enterprises)
◦ Cooperatives (agriculture/agri-business; savings and credit; social
services)
◦ Faith-based organizations espousing a solidarity economy
◦ Social welfare-oriented enterprises serving disadvantaged groups (PWDs,
women and children)
◦ Micro Finance Institutions
◦ SEs initiated by young professionals (fashion, processed food, services to
micro-enterprises)
◦ SMEs with double or triple bottom line
◦ Management and consulting services for SEs/micro-enterprises
◦ SE Service, Resource and Advocacy Institutions/Networks

Convergence for PRESENT
Possible Action Points with
National Government
Agencies (NGAs)

Possible Action Points with NGAs:
Invest in strategic PRESENT research
 Undertake a comprehensive study to define
the most strategic economic subsectors to
undertake PRESENT programs. (NEDA)
 Undertake a national profiling of the social
enterprise sector to better ground
government-social enterprise convergence
initiatives. (NAPC)

Possible Action Points with NGAs:
Begin the paradigm shift towards PRESENT
 Explore the reconfiguration of existing
resources or develop new programs with ODA
donors to
◦ Undertake initiatives to address bottlenecks
negatively affecting social enterprise growth
◦ Evolve structures and systems that would inform the
IRR (Implementing Rules and Regulations) of the
PRESENT Bill

Possible Action Points with NGAs:
Evolve best practices in PRESENT
 Develop social enterprise-government
convergence initiatives
◦ As part of the socio-economic component of government’s
thrust in 609 poorest municipalities identified by NAPC
◦ As a key component of priority industries for national
convergence identified by DTI
◦ To strengthen/enhance the thrust of DA in organic/
sustainable agriculture
 coco coir; organic rice; muscovado; coffee; school chairs;
educational toys; bamboo

Possible Action Points with NGAs:
Pursue PRESENT innovations
 Establish a planning, monitoring, evaluation body
and system to evolve effective, transparent,
corruption-free public procurement schemes and
mechanisms involving SEPPS
◦ coco coir, organic fertilizer, community-based processing
equipment for coffee, educational toys, school chairs
 In cooperation with bank and non-bank-financial
institutions, pilot risk-based lending with a
Guarantee Fund Pool for SEPPS
 Pilot the development of insurance schemes to
address the vulnerability of SEPPS and the poor to
natural disasters and climate change

Possible Action Points with NGAs:
Pursue PRESENT innovations
 Set up a pilot Social Enterprise Development Fund
to support capability building of social enterprises
 Evolve a market development program promoting
the principles of fair trade in partnership with SEPPS
 Pilot social enterprise-based social protection
schemes and the efficient/ effective delivery of
quality basic social services in preparation for a
post-CCT scenario
 Explore appropriate tax incentives for SEPPS

Concluding Remarks:
PRESENT COALITION’s ASPIRATION
STRONG, PROACTIVE & INNOVATIVE SE SECTOR with
a SIGNIFICANT CITIZEN BASE
+
GOVERNMENT PLAYING DEVELOPMENTAL ROLE thru
SUCCESSFUL CONVERGENCE EFFORTS
+
RELEVANT SUPPORT from SOCIAL INVESTORS
 SE-PPS as MAJORITY OF VIBRANT SME SECTOR in
the COUNTRY
SUBSTANTIVE POVERTY REDUCTION