SERDEF Elects Officers and Inducts New Members; Reports on Accomplishments and Future Priorities During 2019 AGMM

The Small Enterprises Research and Development Foundation (SERDEF) elected members of the Board of Trustees and officers for 2019-2021 during the annual general membership meeting held on May 31, 2019 at the E. Virata Hall, UP Institute for Small-Scale Industries in Diliman, Quezon City.

Election of Trustees and Officers for 2019-2021

Dr. Nelia T. Gonzalez and Dr. Paterno V. Viloria were re-elected Chairperson and President, respectively.

SERDEF Chairperson Nelia T. Gonzalez, DL and SERDEF
President Paterno V. Viloria, PhD

Dr. Paz H. Diaz was re-elected as Secretary, and Ms. Serenidad F. Lavador, as Trustee-Representative to the Executive Committee. Newly elected officers were Prof. Melchor C. Morandarte as Vice President and Ms. Gloria D. Canela as Treasurer.

Election tally
Final tally of votes during the election for SERDEF Trustees

Also re-elected to the Board of Trustees were Dr. Herminia R. Fajardo, Dr. Eduardo Q. Canela, and Prof. Jose P. Tabbada. Prof. Daryl Vincent P. Petas was newly elected as Trustee. They joined the other members of the Board of Trustees: Mr. Ernesto S. Bravo, Prof. Ma. Luisa B. Gatchalian, Ms. Arlene E. Liberal, Ms. Angelita B. Resurreccion and Dr. Victoria B. Villa.

Induction of New Members

Three new members of SERDEF were inducted by Dr. Gonzalez during the annual meeting:  Dr. Enrico Basilio, Ms. Lucy Lazo and Ms. Maria Teresa Martinez.

Dr. Basilio is an assistant Professor of the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG)  in UP. He is also the Director of the UP Public Administration Foundation and President of the UP NCPAG Alumni Association. He is a Senior Lecturer of Strategic Business Economics Program and Advanced Management Program at the University of Asia and the Pacific.

Induction of New Members
(from left) Ms. Maria Teresa Martinez, Ms. Lucy Lazo, Dr. Gonzalez and Dr. Enrico Basilio

Ms. Lazo is an independent consultant and has three focus areas: labor and employment, gender and development, and mental health. Currently, she is the President of the World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation. She was the former Regional Program Director of United Nations Development Fund for Women in Bangkok and Chief Technical Adviser of the ILO Regional Office for East and Southeast Asia.

Ms. Martinez is a lecturer at FEU-Manila and Grace Christian College on business-related subjects. She is also a micro-entrepreneur involved in making paper clay products. She is taking up her doctorate degree in Business Management (Class 2019) at MLQU S.P.A.C.E. (School for Professional Advancement and Continuing Education) in Quezon City. She obtained her degree in B.S. Agri-Business from UP Los Banos in Laguna.

President’s Report

Accomplishments

In his report to the members, Dr. Viloria gave a summary of SERDEF’s activities and accomplishments in 2018. These included, among others, the preparation of the Handbook on the Reintegration of OFWs which was published by the UN International Organization for Migration (UN IOM) which commissioned SERDEF to write the Handbook.

The TREE program was held in Daet, Camarines Norte in August 2018 in collaboration with the Camarines Norte State College ; and the 8th TREE program was held in UP Diliman in November 2018.

SERDEF participated in significant national events, as well as various meetings, conference and fora. These included the National MSME Summit 2018; the first MSME Conference organized by the UP Institute for Small-Scale Industries; the Multipartite Consultations on the Formulation of the Green Jobs HRD Plan organized by the department of Labor and the International Labour Organization (ILO); and the Development Policy Research Month.

SERDEF Officers, Trustees and Members attended the 2019 Annual General Membership Meeting
SERDEF Officers, Trustees and Members attended the 2019 Annual General Membership Meeting.

Current and future priorities

President Paterno V. Viloria also reported that the Foundation would continue focusing on actions that would improve its competency and material capability to function as a more dynamic and relevant player in creating an enterprising Philippine society.

In particular, he identified the following initiatives and activities as priorities in the current and future years:

  • Intensify action in creating enterprising mindset and competency in the education sector through the Training for Entrepreneurship Educators (TREE) program;
  • Develop further the program on Building Enterprising Society Today (BEST) for pre- and primary grade school children;
  • Continue aligning SERDEF’s goals and activities with the ASEAN economic integration and other current global trends and developments in the field of entrepreneurship;
  • Adopt new strategies for nation-building within the framework of the Foundation’s enterprise development mission, such as pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals, especially those that are related to poverty and hunger reduction, climate change, quality education and decent work;
  • Design and implement ICT programs and projects as applied on MSMEs;
  • Design and implement programs addressing crucial issues of the time, such as Climate Change Impact Mitigation; Disaster Risk Management for MSMEs; Migration and Women’s Economic Empowerment through Entrepreneurship;
  • Design and implement programs for the agriculture sector such as agribusiness training for farmers and farm workers, and entrepreneurship training for farmers cooperatives;
  • Engage in robust SERDEF membership campaign; and
  • Intensify resource generation efforts through systematic fund-sourcing activities.