In its 12th year anniversary celebration, the VSU College of Management and Economics (CME) held a four-part webinar series with a timely and unifying theme “Exercising Democracy: Forging Local and National Leaders.”

The virtual series of discussions held via Zoom transpired from February 28 to March 4, 2022 and was organized by the four departments under CME, each contributing a cohesive topic that featured world-renowned speakers from across the country.

Inclusivity: the path towards good governance

With democracy at the centerpoint of the week-long event, the CME 12th Anniversary Convocation was encapsulated by a session with Dr. Ronald U. Mendoza, Dean and Professor of Economics at the Ateneo School of Government.

Dr. Mendoza started his thought-provoking presentation on the political landscape of the country by outlining the deficiencies in the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also pin-pointed the proper course of action by providing reforms on how the current issues in Philippine governance can be addressed.

He later focused on discussing the pressing dilemma on the inequality trap that is crippling the country and broke it down to three main issues, namely; inequality in opportunities, political concentration of power, and economic concentration.

“Inequality is self-reinforcing. We need to break free from this anti-democratic, anti-inclusive-growth inequality trap,” the speaker added.

Dr. Mendoza also explained how adding a reform agenda consisting of an inclusive society, inclusive democracy, and inclusive economy will help address the overall inequality trap.

Further discussing the key roles of the aforementioned agenda, he stated that an inclusive society promotes social protection and upward social mobility. Inclusive democracy on the other hand, can be achieved by regulating dynasties and strengthening political parties, and an inclusive economy can be realized through improving competition in the market and eliminating crony capitalism.

It can be noted that ‘inclusivity’ is the practice where access to opportunities and resources are equally provided for people who might be excluded or marginalized, such as the minority groups.

With 25 years of experience as a governance and institutional reforms specialist in policy and public administration reforms, Dr. Mendoza also has numerous affiliations in the United Nations (UN) and its branch sectors such as UNICEF and UNDP.

He is also a recipient of the 2012 National Academy of Science and Technology’s Ten Outstanding Young Scientist (TOYS) in the Philippines in the field of economics, along with many awards credited to his name.

As an academic institution, CME has recognized the importance of engaging our stakeholders with discussions on voter education, and took initiative in deliberating leadership characteristics, reviewing policy directions, and forging local and national leaders for the future of the country.

Hosted by the CME Supreme Student Council (SSC), the 2-hour zoom session was held on March 4, 2022 and served as the concluding program of the anniversary. Winners of various online contests and activities were also announced during the anniversary convocation program.

Encouraging the young: words of advice from four successful agribusiness alumni

The Department of Business and Management (DBM) opened the webinar series with their first ever talk show entitled “Sustainable Agribusiness: Principles to Practice,” that featured four successful agribusiness alumni namely; Mr. Albert Rosillo, Mr. Rey Evangelista, Mrs. Elvira Torres, and Mrs. Renilda Kuizon.

An outstanding farmer awardee, Mr. Rosillo is also the owner of Basti’s farm, Mr. Evangelista on the other hand is a renowned former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) star and currently a franchisee of “The Generics Pharmacy,” and lastly Mrs. Kuizon is the owner of Lolo Bobby Handicrafts in Bato, Leyte.

Mr. Rosillo, Mr. Evangelista, and Mrs. Torres keynoted the entrepreneurial stories and discussions on how and why they started their business and talked about farming foundations, like raw materials, land, hobby, security, and knowledge.

Regional Technical Director of the Department of Agriculture here in Region 8, Mrs. Torres presented relevant information and updates on government programs that support the agribusiness sector such as farm and fisheries clustering, including production link through the “Kadiwa” market system that grants provision to farmer groups.

The discussion then diversified to business resiliency amidst the challenges during the pandemic and how they coped up despite a series of unprecedented setbacks.

They also enumerated three character traits an entrepreneur must possess: first is passion, second is risk-taking, and lastly hardworking—a necessary balance to become successful in the agribusiness industry.

Aside from the intrapersonal qualities, they also stressed the importance of capacity building and what skills to develop to nurture the growth of a business. This included planning and writing skills, technical skills, and communication skills.

This talk show was broadcasted via the VSU DYDC-FM and was hosted by Mr. Bryan Ranches Gapasin and Mr. Bert Cutob Peñalosa.

Challenges of women leaders in time of elections

A collaboration between the VSU Department of Economics (DOE), Institute of Strategic Research and Development Studies (ISRDS), Gender and Resource Center (GRC), and the Visayas Socio-Economic Research and Data Analytics Center (ViSERDAC), this virtual forum centered on the challenges subjected on women leaders during election period.

Entitled “Challenges Confronting Women Leaders: What we can do as Responsible Citizens,” the 2-hour zoom session was held via Zoom and was graced by a renowned journalist and educator from University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, Prof. Adelle Leizl R. Chua.

The distinguished speaker’s talk mainly anchored on voter’s education that included modern dilemmas such as the spread of misinformation and fake news, the common challenges faced by women leaders during elections, and how citizens can be responsible in addressing the pressing issues.

How politics go hand-in-hand with the future of Philippine tourism

In the third installment of the webinar series, the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management (DTHM), invited Mr. Felix G. Delos Santos, Jr., the Chief Tourism Operations Officer (CTOO) of the famous Boracay Island to talk about the role of political governance in paving the way for tourism development.

The world-class island destination located at Brgy. Caticlan in the municipality of Malay, Aklan is a famed hotspot of tourists in the Philippines. The CTOO of the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Malay shared in his talk the good practices of politics in the tourism industry of Boracay island.

With the shutdown of the tourism industry due to the pandemic, the speaker highlighted that collaboration between the national, regional, and local government sectors is a must in the recovery of tourism.

Having been named as “The Best Beach in the World, ” he stressed that coalitions and alliances composed of public and private stakeholders backed by the government made this possible, as this created policies, plans, and standardized protocols that restarted the tourism operations in the area.

Attended by the President of the Eastern Visayas Tourism Association (EVTA) Mr. Reynaldo “Cholo” Franco, he also emphasized the importance of selecting the right leaders for our future, and the future of Philippine tourism.

“To have a progressive tourism in the Philippines in the future, we need to select leaders that are knowledgeable, innovative, and team players that can pull and work together with the diverse tourism stakeholders,” the CTOO said.

[Co-writing these stories are Vince G. Lao and Gracielle Dawn L. Gamotin, Zyra May H. Centino, and Venice B. Ibañez.]

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