Wanted: Nationalist entreps to move PHL economy forward

Nationalist entrepreneurs are needed to move the Philippine economy forward, former Finance Secretary Salvador Enriquez said in an interview with GMA News Online over the weekend.

"The economic success of any given society depends on the development of entrepreneurs," he said, adding that entrepreneurial skills have much to do with the "creation of things of value [goods or services] that people need... which makes these [things] essentially good."

The absence of [good value] in entrepreneurship would bring about "lokohan, dengoyan, and why we have  situations involving loss of billions of pesos, now being  associated to a case like that of Janet Lim-Napoles."

Also, he said creativity, daring (or faith in the things we do), communitarian spirit, and hard work are some of the elements that must be present in Filipino entrepreneurship.

"If you dedicate your efforts to the good of the many, you will soon realize that people will patronize you, and you will become wealthy and make the country rich," he said.

Self-reliance is also important. "Hindi ka puwedeng tamad o pala asa," he added.

He recalled that early on in his life, when he was nine or 10 years old, he had to beg or even forcibly position himself among men queuing so he could buy two packs of Japanese cigarette brands Akebono or May Blossom.

As a boy, he would travel stretches of dirt roads of Bocaue and Pulilan in Bulacan province to peddle his merchandise. He and his father would also sell "binilot na sigarilyo" – the local  counterpart of the Japanese brands. This was his start, the element of daring and hard work and self-reliance.

He recalls that in his twenties, he was already an accountant, he went to the United States not to be employed but to do business. There he traded and forwarded goods and deliveries for fellow Filipinos to the Philippines.

"We can change our lives by changing our attitudes," he said. — Fernando dela Cruz /LBG, GMA News