Go Rinconada Movement
Guest Speaker: 2008 Magistrado Clan Reunion

MAGISTRADO CLAN REUNION
06 April 2008
Iriga City

Unity & Cooperation Towards Progress!


My dear friends, it is my privilege to speak to all of you today. I know there are people among us here who are equally or more than capable than myself to speak in front of you today. But I will try to do justice to your expectations and share my thoughts on our theme for today.

Pagkausad, Pagtinarabang-tabangan.

The theme is very appropriate for this occasion: Unity and Cooperation Towards Progress. But the question is, Can this be achieved? The next question should be, How do we achieve this? How do we make ourselves a collective group and harness this for the good of the many?
 
                                                    
                          Philippines                     Japan                    Singapore                    Thailand

The journey towards this process is not always easy. But it can be done and it has been done. On a macro-level, let’s take the case of Singapore. In the early 1960’s, when Singapore was still a  backwater state, the Philippine economy was already 2nd to Japan in Asia. EDSA then was the envy of our Southeast Asian neighbors; Thailand was sending its students to study in our Universities. Fast forward to 40 years later, Singapore and Malaysia are economic powerhouses in Asia. They were able to achieve progress despite the multi-racial composition of their population: Chinese, Malay, and Indian. They would not be where they are now today without Unity and Cooperation. Yes, it can be done.

On a national level, there’s Gawad Kalinga. Who would not know about GK? GK started with a vision to help the poor among us, provide them homes, and more importantly, guide the communities with proper values-formation. Tony Meloto, the man who started the organization, knew that although he had pure and generous intentions, the process of forming the organization will be difficult. But he persevered. Today, Gawad Kalinga is a revolution – a revolution of sharing, cooperation, of pagtitinarabang-tabangan. Yes, it can be done.

Allow me to digress a little: Gawad Kalinga is my inspiration for putting up Go Rinconada Movement, a non-stock, non-profit, socio-civic organization which I formed together with other Metro Manila-based professionals from Rinconada. The aim is to be a catalyst for social development and economic progress in the district. The organization, like Gawad Kalinga, shall be driven by volunteerism, and multi-sectoral linkages with both private and government in undertaking livelihood interventions, and values-formation among other programs. With the cooperation and assistance of  different sectors. Dipisil kin iisipon, kin pauno magpuon. But yes, it can be done.

On the community level, there are countless success stories of how cooperatives or collective organizations have played a major role as instruments of  social transformation, and economic development. I am not an authority on Cooperatives but from the little that I know, there are several types of cooperatives and the more common ones are: : Credit Cooperative, and Multi-Purpose Cooperative. The type of cooperative that we want will depend on what will best serve the needs of the members. If you ask me, I will set-up a multi-purpose cooperative which will have grocery, micro-credit, and livelihood programs among others. A key ingredient of the cooperative system is microfinance or micro-credit which enables the members to have access to capital for livelihood or micro-business purposes.

Putting up a cooperative is easy because there are already templates which we can copy. Sustaining and making the cooperative viable is a different matter.

Achieving Unity and Cooperation Towards Progress is only the end-result! What we need to do before this is equally important.

1st, the role of management is crucial. According to Jim Collins in his book, ‘From Good to Great’, for a company or organization to succeed and be great –  ‘the right people should be in the right jobs with the right competencies.’ We need to ensure that the right people are in the right jobs with the right competencies. This is true in private companies. This is true in government. This is true in cooperatives and other organizations.

2nd, the objectives should be Common, Clear, and Transparent to all members.

3rd, there should be Understanding and Buy-in.

4th and last, all these will be useless without the Commitment and Proactive Action from each one.

Right management
Common objective / Clarity and transparency
Understanding and buy-in
Commitment and take action

With these elements in place, then we have unity. We have cooperation. And we will have progress. Do we have unity among us? Do we have cooperation among us? Then I believe the Magistrado Clan and Rinconada can achieve progress. Yes, it can be done!

As I end my talk today, let me end with these questions which I pose to everyone:
 

What can we do to help? How can we share our blessings to the community? How can we leverage on our network and resources for the good of many? How can we intervene in our own little way and contribute in improving the lives of the less privileged? How can we harness our capabilities and use them so others maybe empowered to be as capable if not more successful than ourselves?

There are many things within the power of ordinary man to change. We are not miracle workers. We cannot do great things overnight. We cannot be heroes in an instance. But with cooperation, unity and a common sense of direction, we can achieve great heights little by little. Just like the unity that your clan had demonstrated today, I am positive that no obstacle will be too great for us to overcome. 

Pagkausad. Pagtinarabang-tabangan. Yes, it can be done! And Let the Magistrado clan lead the way!


(Text of the speech given by Mr. Jay Magistrado Dimaiwat at the Magistrado Clan Reunion on April 6, 2008 in Iriga City)