By Myrna Rodriguez Co
(first published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Business Monday, January 19, 2015)
As millions of Filipinos opened their hearts wide to the visiting Pope, businesses are accused of taking advantage of the occasion to push their commercial and selfish interests.
Huge billboards and banners festoon the streets, emblazoned with Pope Francis’ image, to welcome the Prelate to the country. But the rub is the logos of sponsoring companies are also conspicuously displayed, inviting cynicism as to the sincerity of their motives.
Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal thinks corporations are out to capitalize on the event to promote and advertise their business. He deplored that these companies were “no different from politicians who were warned by Manila Arcbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle not to use the occasion for political purposes.”
Macalintal added that Pope Francis would rather have them donate what they spent for the billboards to Yolanda victims.
Meanwhile, small entrepreneurs are so out there in the streets doing a brisk business of selling papal visit souvenirs to the crowds that follow the route of the papal visit.
These products include t-shirts, mugs, button pins, rosaries, refrigerator magnets, ball pens, calendars, bag tags, and small cards with the image of a saint printed on them.
A vendor related, in an interview, that he was able to sell hundreds of Pope Francis t-shirts, at P250 each, on the first few hours of the Prelate’s arrival.
As early as October, demand for papal merchandise had begun to spike. This was observed both by street vendors and the church-run Radyo Veritas whose marketing coordinator said that sales of the items climbed each day the Pope’s arrival neared.
Entrepreneurs are always known for keenly observing and seizing opportunities to open new ventures and to make existing ones grow. They are constantly on the lookout to innovate products and increase sales. This is known, among scholars who study entrepreneurs, as opportunity seeking – one of the hallmarks of the entrepreneurial personality.
That is why the feasting, gift-giving and sharing activities of Christmas has come to be associated with shopping and spending.
No wonder, too, that Valentine’s Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day, Halloween and other such festivities have similarly become a store event.
Even mass protest movements, like the recent marches against the pork barrel scam, cannot seem to be held without street entrepreneurs in the sidelines, making their own little stash.
How can the visit of the People’s Pope, expected to draw six million Filipinos to the streets, be an exception?
The local Catholic clergy came out in defense of the banners. They were meant to highlight Filipino hospitality, explained Fr. Anton Pascual, head of the papal visit subcommittee on media relations and publicity.
The banners, he added, were put up by Radyo Veritas with the help of corporate partners. The space allotted for the company logos at the bottom of the tarpaulins “only serves as our token ‘thank you’ for helping us out.”
On the thriving of street entrepreneurship during the Papal visit, Small Enterprises Research and Development Foundation (Serdef) Trustee Dr. Herminia Fajardo observed: “How can we fault the intrepid hawkers, vendors and micro entrepreneurs from‘seizing the moment’ That is what makes them tick. Besides, they are doing the public a valid service. The rest of us should not just tolerate but encourage them, as long as we don’t lose sight of the main purpose of the Holy Father’s visit.”
For many of these very small entrepreneurs, street vending is the only means for survival. Their work is highly insecure, involving long hours, poor conditions and no legal and social protection. They are usually informal, unlicensed, untaxed, and non-compliant with government regulations. However, many of them hold the potentias for more mainstream entrepreneurship that generates job and helps build the nation.
“Streetpreneurship” implies tackling the realities – and yes, the opportunities — at any given moment. It’s about making the most of the cards one is dealt, and with street entrepreneurs, high cards are rare. Textbook prescriptions do not apply. This does not mean setting aside ethical values, but, hey, cut them some slack. It’s a tougher world out there in the streets, being at the mercy of the elements, amidst the honking of horns and the hurry-flurry of humanity.
Streetpreneurs may be tough but they are as devout and faithful as Pinoys come. They are as exhilarated to be in the presence of such a holy and charismatic man as the rest of us.
Perhaps we can take a leaf from what Quiapo-based vendor Mami Yuki Reyes said in an interview with PRI’s The World: “Pope Francis is a kind man. He will understand us. And I want to go where he’s holding mass … his spirit will feel close.”
(Streetpreneurship is one of the priority targets in SERDEF’s development strategy this year.
Photo: from www.gmanetwork.com