Being the jaded journalist that I am, I find myself cringing whenever I hear the phrase “Anything is possible.” It sounds too much like an opening speech gone bad.

Yesterday, I heard it again during a Go Negosyo even that I covered. This time, however, I couldn’t quite argue against the motherhood cliché with my usual skepticism. The subject of the speech spoke more than the three-word-phrase that I usually scoff at.

Picture this: five persons with disabilities who have successfully run their own businesses for many years against all odds.

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I have packs and packs of muscovado sugar in my kitchen. Some of them have been there for months! I buy them in the grocery store on moments I feel like “going organic” or “going green”. But I forget to use them or fail to tell the maids to use them. The distinct flavor that comes with the brown sweetness takes some getting used to, I guess.

But when I talked to muscovado sugar farmers at the Good News Kapihan yesterday, I realized that with all the chemicals used in making sugar come in white granules, we could be slowly putting in toxins in our body or killing the environment with pesticides. (Here’s an excerpt but you can read my entire article here.)

A lot of people use “sweetness” to get their way. For muscovado farmers Reynic S. Alo of Negros province and Cornelio E. Castañeda Jr. of Sultan Kudarat, it brought in money, a business that is not only good for the environment but also helps poor farmers in the countryside.

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In the remote places of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu where electricity only comes from solar panels through a project called AMORE, it’s not hard to find fishermen and most adults in late afternoon who are trying to unwind from a full day of hard work. Most of them sing away their blues through the videoke machine. Those clunky contraptions have, in many cases, replaced the traditional social halls of barangays. Who could forget that compelling tune sung out before the final score is revealed? :).

Read this article and learn of a Filipino that has made money from the videoke trend!

By Delfin Mallari Jr.
Southern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 06:42pm (Mla time) 11/10/2007

LUCENA CITY — His passion for singing and technical expertise acquired from a vocational school helped influence local businessman Fernando Vasquez, 43, to embark on videoke machine production.

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I first heard about the “Why Not” forum from Smart’s Mon Isberto. At the time, I thought it was just a marketing gimmick or people pounding their fists on the table about something nationalistic when they are actually just marketing themselves. This blog post by Niña Terol has made me see that there must be something real here for the politics-weary Filipino who wants to change the world — often through entrepreneurship. I post this with the permission of Mark Ruiz, one of the founders of Why Not. Read on:

By Niña Terol
 
It was an ordinary Thursday night, and yet Warehouse 135, the hip warehouse-turned-club on Yakal Street in Makati, was filled to capacity. Only it wasn’t filled with clubgoers and party scenesters—it was filled with young professionals, creative minds, thinkers, and dreamers who all dared to ask a question that would set the tone for the entire evening’s talks: Why not?
 
The WhyNot? Forum, according to founders Mark Ruiz and Bam Aquino, is a “smorgasboard of great, brave ideas—an open-source innovation soup that will hopefully inspire other Filipinos all over to connect adjunct thoughts, take impactful action, and weave together new breakthrough ideas.” Inspired by the TEDTalks of the United States ( www.ted.com), it is based on the simple idea of gathering some of the best minds in the country to share their respective ideas for 15 minutes each. By asking The Question and challenging outmoded assumptions, it is hoped that WhyNot? Forum will spark a thought revolution that will encourage people to “think new thoughts, share big dreams, do brave things.”

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An INQUIRER.net feature today from MoneySense magazine tells the story of an overseas Filipino worker who has successfully jumped into entrepreneurship back home. Being a woman myself, and someone who is often faced with the temptation of working abroad or migrating, hotelier Annabella Wisniewski wowed me when she terrorized someone claiming to be part of the mafia in New York with, well, her bluff on the Asian mafia. An absolutely tantalizing moment. Here’s an excerpt:

I worked in Hilton, Marriot, and Scotts, did international consulting for Horwath and HOSTS, and developed The Ascott (of then Scotts Holdings), the first successful luxury service apartment concept in Singapore. This made me the first Filipino and first woman on the board of directors of that company. I also helped my mother with her business.

I learned that not only are foreigners more competitive, but they’re also more exacting about standards. You have to make it on your own merits, and that makes you more professional.

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