upon receiving the Institute's Eleanor Roosevelt Award |
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New ideas are scoffed at, ridiculed and diluted. Marietta was the lit the flame that rooted microfinance in the Philippines. The idea she believed in and held true to was that it was possible to open access to credit for the poor. Marietta believed it would work and found other people who could trust in the idea or then a dream, that one way to alleviate poverty could be through opening doors for the poor to borrow money for their enterprises, their organic life skills and small enterprises.
The first group included Dean Ed Morato, a guru ahead of his time at the Asian Institute of Management, a hard-nosed economist and finance policy wiz, Romy Nery, Ron Chua, and myself. We constituted the Task Force on Credit for the Poor under the Office of the President of the Philippines. Marietta brought the knowledge, highlighted the local examples that worked such as that of Benjie Montemayor of the Tulay sa Pagunlad. Marietta formed, led the battle, laughed away and belittled damaging commentary, would hear no ill, brought the idea Into reality and joined others in celebration. She brought her energy and spirit into the idea that microfinance was a solution that could work. Today, after close to ten years, microfinance serves more than half a million enterprising poor on the island republic of the Philippines. The flame is lit and spreading. This award is an acknowledgement of the fact that it was Marietta who lit the flame and fanned its birth and light. Marcia Feria Miranda President & Executive Director Punla sa Tao Foundation I had the honor and pleasure of working alongside Marietta Goco during the 1998 Philippine presidential elections - it was the first party list elections. After making a conscious choice to make the Philippines my present home - having grown up in Berkeley, California, and spending most of my adult life in the US - Marietta gave me a lifetime opportunity not only to see the country, but the people that inhabited it. I was not prepared for I what I was about to encounter. The Philippines is a poor and backward country, but a country that is struggling to rise to its feet on calloused hands, and calloused hearts. Throughout my trips to the countryside conducting electoral process seminars with my colleagues, I am became a personal witness to the wonders of Marietta's vision of empowering women, farmers, the elderly, the handicapped, the labor sector, teachers, indigenous peoples and many others who belong to the marginalized communities in the Philippines. I remember quite well one woman from the province of Samar, one of the poorest in the country, during a seminar in Cebu. She bragged of how they lifted themselves literally off the ground, established a cooperative, established a micro-credit system, derived livelihood projects because of this, and when they had enough money established a small school for the children of their barrio. They did this because Marietta made a conscious effort to live out her vision. This scenario repeated itself hundreds of times over, and those that told me of their success were women. Marietta Goco was guided in her vision by the MBN or the minimum basic requirement. Through these came other projects, and through her vision and mission she came to help millions. I continue to extend my expertise and services to Marietta because I believe not only in the Filipino peoples' need to rise but more importantly, in Marietta Goco. Michael Tomelden National Sectoral Affairs Committee Lakas NUCD UMDP (1998) Marietta P. Goco has long championed microfinance and the presentational issues of the basic sectors of Philippine society as key to the empowerment of those who still have no voice in our society. Through her engagements with the National Anti-Poverty Commission in the Ramos Administration where she served as the Chairman to her current role as Convenor of a National Basic Sectors Assembly, she has facilitated projects and programs that have mainstreamed the poor-particularly rural women- into the mainstream of the financial structure of the Philippines. In earlier years she was the mediating force who helped the local environmental movement emerge with tendencies so rampant in the Philippine left and right and has fashioned through their mutual confidence in her, a renewed trust in the process of dialogue. Her backdoor skills made possible this year a Political Summit of all Philippine Political Parties whose united declaration of concerns a new sustainable development paradigm that was closer to the plight of the poor. In a potentially rich country whose people have somehow remained impoverished, she serves as an interlocutor of sectoral demands for access and equity, for real on-the-ground changes, and for integrity in governance. Her prickly honesty has kept her from the highest rungs of formal political power, but herein lies her strength - she is in politics, but she is not of politics. She uses her political power to push concerns that create a countervailing force to the blind forces of market determinism and globalization. And she has probably done this without being fully conscious of it. Her artlessness however, is not inarticulateness, as it resulted in the creation of policies and laws that truly empower the poor. She helps moderate the polarizing and extremist augurs hope that truly programmatic parties will soon be the rule rather than the exception. Her choice as an awardee is well-deserved. Mr. Louie Corral Secretary General Association for Phil Electric Cooperatives Party List Marietta Goco is a brilliant choice for the Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Award. In my two years of association with her, I saw in her the epitome of selfless service, bigness of heart, pioneering spirit and pragmatism. Ever energetic, she draws her strength from her deep sense of spirituality and love for people that she serves. Commissioner Mryna T. Yao President, National Council of Women Of the Philippines The Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Marietta Goco is one award well deserved. Her legendary efforts in getting the National Anti-Poverty Act passed into law are unknown to most; but it was her dedication, commitment and leadership that contributed substantively to its passage. A well deserved award indeed. Karina Garilao Marietta P. Goco wages a personal crusade to address the pervasive problem of poverty in the Philippines, especially among women and their communities in the rural areas. She directly helped pursue the passage of the landmark law, R.A. 8425, also known as the Social Reform and Anti-Poverty Act, that seeks to institutionalize the mechanisms and structures for the poor sectors of Philippine society, especially women and the disadvantaged, to access productive resources and support facilities, such as credit and livelihood opportunities. Her hands-on participation and involvement in policy formulation, program implementation and resource mobilization provided the paths by which the poor are empowered to become productive citizens, who are able to increase their income-earning capacity. In all these, she succeeded in carving a niche in the national development arena, finding relevance in the fight against poverty in the country and in shaping the framework for people's empowerment. Her initiatives include numerous trailblazing accomplishments and breakthroughs for and on behalf of poor and undeserved Filipino. Her involvement in politics and policy-making, in particular, can not be underestimated. The public recognition of the roles she played is vividly the reflection of the struggles she waged to define a mark with her patriotic sentiments and sense of national responsibility. We can say that she is amongst the "cream of the crop", so to speak, of the women's political and social development bloc, in and outside of government. She is one woman who believes that true democracy and independence emanate from winning the stakes that allow people to take part in decision-making processes and to ensure real access to power. She serves as inspiration for others, as well as an epitome of excellence in service - one who becomes less of themselves in order to give more to others. Ms. Dolly Castillo Director,Office of the Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Office of the President, Malacaņang, Manila As a Chairperson of the Presidential Commission to Fight Poverty, Mrs. Marietta Primicias-Goco led the battle for social justice. An energetic and outspoken representative of the needs of the basic sectors, she has committed herself to the pursuit or equity and genuine social reform. Her name is synonymous to the Minimum Basic Need (MBN) Approach. The Filipino MBN is the backbone of all development efforts to improve the Quality of Life of the ordinary Filipino. It is the basic framework to poverty alleviation and defines the basic needs of a Filipino family for survival, security and empowerment. The MBN approach will ensure that a family is able to meet its minimum basic needs on a sustained basis. It also fosters community participation and engages the individual/family/community to participate actively in local decision-making and in setting targets for basic service delivery. Personally, Mrs. Goco has imbibed on me the principle of servant leadership that to be a leader, one has to serve first. Working with her reminds me of the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, " You get more joy out of the giving to others, and should put a good deal of thought into the happiness you are able to give". Dr. Madelene R. Valera Vice-President for Quality Research and Policy Development Philippine Health Insurance Corp. Unit 1205 City State Center #709 Shaw Blvd., Pasig City Mrs. Marietta Goco, whom I call the "Iron Lady" was at the forefront of mobilizing civil society and the Philippine Basic Sectors in the quest for community centered, people-empowered anti poverty campaign during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos. Her unique role as a woman leader, and on which she based her strategic interventions to transform and reshape women into dynamic intervenors, participants, creative designers of the evolution of the fight against poverty is on the culturally and historically rooted role of women in Philippine society--what she and her colleagues call "BABAYLAN" (the Priestess role). This involves a values based personal and community learning process, that intertwines the values of Pro-God, pro-Nation, pro-People, and Pro-environment, towards creating a culture of entrepreneurship, shared responsibility for outcomes, total inclusion of all the other sectors at grassroots level, affirming each participants' capability to come up with creative solutions to local problems, thus giving themselves hope to sustain life with dignity and honor. For her outstanding work as Chairperson of the Presidential Commission to Fight Poverty and as a National Program Director of the Moral Recovery Program during the administration of President Ramos, she was conferred the Presidential Order of the Golden Heart in 1998. She orchestrated the teams who designed, consulted, crafted, advocated, implemented, and lobbied for the passage of RA 8425, known as the "Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act", the first anti-poverty legislation of its kind in the world.. She is at present dedicating the most productive years of active life as an NGO leader, into empowering the Basic Sectors and civil society, institutionalizing their ACCESS to productive inner and material resources, capabilities, information, markets, and to political power-still a public service career, this time, partnering with women 'Babaylans' who are the chief bridge builders for good governance and politics through values for life, women empowerment through economic empowerment, and social justice and sustainable development through meeting the family's Minimum Basic Needs, which are the objectives in the organization of the Local Councils of Women at the 1492 Municipal and 129 City Local Governments nationwide Mrs. Marietta Goco exemplifies her commitment to public service and further proves that empowered women can and do make a difference. Therefore, Mrs. Marietta Goco deserves this recognition because she has become a role model, not only for women but for all those who share in the Ramos administration's Vision statement of PHILIPPINES 2000-A God-centered, people empowered, prosperous national community, where the least among us has a decent minimum of food, clothing, shelter and dignity, and the opportunity to make his or her life the fullest it can be." Dr. Athir Sajid Angelo King Institute for Economics and Business Studies De La Salle University, Manila The legacy of creating opportunities that change people's lives and then to institutionalize access to such opportunities, is Mrs. Goco's distinctive competence. And this makes her different from all development workers I have met and worked with. She does not believe in short-lived interventions just for creating good impressions. It is a requirement to herself and to all of us who work with her, to practice what we preach: our acts must be reflective of our values. As National Program Director of the Moral Recovery Program during the Ramos Administration (1992-1998), she carefully crafted the program to become an experience-based learning laboratory where values are clarified, lived nd practiced, not just taught or talked about. We trained more than 2,000 trainors and touched over 4 million people. When she was later appointed as Chairperson of the Presidential Commission to Fight Poverty, she embraced it, to mean that values and culture as the bedrock of effective and impactful national development are inseparable. She made sure that government delivery of programs, projects, and services for poverty alleviation are rooted in values of the stakeholders themselves, looking forward together to a personal, family, community and national vision called Philippines 2000, thus fostering personal accountability to each other, to the people served and to community where they live, as persons of intrinsic value, dreaming dreams that are achievable with honor and hard work. At the Sambayanihan Foundation, where she now serves as Chairperson, we are Microfinance practitioners. Our services not only allow the poorest women to earn and save, but also lets them empower themselves: :to chose and decide on their best options, as they see fit, and as worthy of the blessings they receive and work so hard for. Most of us in the Foundation say: "Once you have been 'contaminated' by Mrs. Goco, you have no other choice but to choose the difficult path that others refuse to take, but which you will never regret taking in your lifetime, because that path, in the end, Is the road to a better life." ZINNIA CARIASA-ARCINUE Executive Director, Moral Recovery Program Executive Director, Sambayanihan Foundation, Inc. Marietta is a woman of action, highly committed to the empowerment of marginalized women, their families and communities. Her governance approach to women empowerment consists in installing the appropriate mechanism to harness their hidden talent and emerging their positive value system, so that they themselves are able to take hold of crafting their own vision, goals and programs. She knows how to tap the potential resources of partner-NGOs and enables their meaningful utilization through networking and building on relationship capital. One of the more powerful capability building seminars that her Sambayanihan Foundation has crafted and conducts is entitled "Kabuuan-> Pamathalaan-> Sambayanihan" (Wholeness/Abundance-> Spirit-led Management-> Nation of Heroes) a personal and organizational effectiveness workshop, has touched the hearts and minds of over 100,000 women and men in both the public and private and civil society sectors. MERLE PIMENTEL Former Chief of Staff, Sen. Leticia Ramos Shahani Ms. Marietta Primicias Goco is a pillar in the development of Microfinance in the Philippines. I know her to be a committed development management professional in her focused advocacy to provide credit for the poorest as Chairperson of the Presidential Commission to Fight Poverty from 1995 to 1998. It was during her watch, as PCFP Chair that Microfinance and Microfinance Capacity Building became, by law, key elements, together with the Minimum Basic Needs Standard, in the anti-poverty policy strategy of the Ramos government, despite traditional and historical mindsets of financial, banking and development sectors as being not feasible and non-viable. Her staunch commitment to institutionalize the Microfinance industry in the Philippines led the effective lobby for the passing of Republic Act 8425 otherwise known as "Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act", the first legislation of its kind in the whole world, where she was able to mobilize resources for the wholesale lending to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) through the People's Credit and Finance Corporation (PCFC), and the Peoples Development Trust Fund (PDTF), to address the capacity building needs of the accessors of these institutions. Ms. Goco's strength, determination and focus as an outstanding leader can not be overlooked. Her passion to help the poor transcends politics and political affiliations. It is through her mantra of expanding opportunities and enabling the poor to live productive lives that the seed of Microfinance was planted, nurtured, and now grown, to give hope to those who have less. MANOLITO A. NOVALES Sr. Technical Coordinator (GTZ) and Former Executive Director, PCFP Hi Mommy Goco! Congratulations. Here is my way of being happy with you! I love you a lot. Lowie Ms. Marietta Goco was a key conceptualizer and prime mover of the anti-poverty legislation which was passed under President Ramos despite strong objection from highly placed bureaucrats and vigorous resistance by the powerful commercial banking interests. This law mandated micro-finance as a strategic tool in empowering the poor by giving them access to vital financial resources to enhance their livelihood opportunities. Because of this and many other progressive and pro-poor advocacies, Ms. Marietta Goco richly deserves this award. Prof. Romulo L. Neri, Asia Institute of Management Director General, Congressional Planning and Budget Office House of Representatives |
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Teen Soup for the World | A Call to Action | Hero of the Month | Leaders Guide
Stone Soup Leadership Institute
P.O. Box 5324, Larkspur, CA 94977, 415-646-0416