FROM THE MARGINS Scottish poet Thomas Campbell’s poem, Hallowed Ground, has this very popular line: “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” This is certainly true, as we commemorate All Saints Day tomorrow and All Souls Day the day after, to celebrate the lives of saints and pray for our dearly departed. Filipinos usually think of family during this period of remembrance. Aside from going to churches or cemeteries to light a candle and pray, many visit their home provinces or see relatives and friends. Some happily stay at home to spend quality time with family, do household chores, or rest. I am currently on travel for work, but before returning to the daily grind, I wish to pay tribute to Philippine microfinance pioneers who have gone before us. They are dearly-missed colleagues and friends, whose legacies serve as guideposts for many of us in the industry. Pioneers After decades of serving the poor and the marginalized, some of our colleagues have gone quietly, the void they left behind marked only by those whose lives they have touched. There was hardly any public recognition, just accolades from colleagues and friends who knew their quiet sacrifices. To name a few, I remember Cecil del Castillo, co-founder of the Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc. (NWTF), and former leader of the Philippine Network of Grameen Bank Replicators (PHILNET) and the Charter of the Asia-Pacific for Helping the Hardcore Poor (CASHPOR Philippines). I also remember Benjamin “Benjie” Montemayor of Tulay sa Pag-unlad, Inc. (TSPI), founding member of the two largest microfinance networks in the country — the Alliance of Philippine Partners in Enterprise Development (APPEND) and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI). My prayers also for Gerardo Anit of Vision Fund, Deverna Briones, former vice president of the CARD MRI Development Institute (CMDI), Severiano Marcelo, founder of Kasagana-Ka Development Center (KDCI) and other MFI leaders who I failed to mention. I also pray for our community leaders and members who have passed to their eternal reward. There are many like them, whose pioneering work guide us as we continue to advocate for social and financial inclusion. They helped lay down the ground work, introducing community-based microfinance, microinsurance and other social development programs, as well as lobbying for pro-poor policy reforms. They provided capacity-building training programs for early microfinance pioneers in the country, which later became the platform for microfinance institutions (MFIs) to share best practices. They helped in coalition-building and setting up of standards for our microfinance industry to be sustainable. Not to be forgotten is Md. Shafiqual Haque Choudhury, ASA founder from Bangladesh, who selflessly shared an alternative microfinance model that benefitted millions of people not only in our country but globally. We owe these pioneers a lot for showing us ways to help the poor and the marginalized. Challenges remain The fight against poverty is now more pronounced. Just last week, the most recent SWS survey showed that 49 percent or an estimated 12.6 million Filipino families considered themselves poor. Filipinos are bracing for more difficult times ahead, as rising inflation and high interest rates are expected to stall economic growth. About 2.68 million Filipinos are unemployed in August, and many more are underemployed, engaged in low-earning, intermittent or informal work. Millions continue to live in extreme poverty, unable to cope with the double-whammy of joblessness amidst the rising costs of goods and services. There are other challenges: climate change, agricultural problems, increasing population (an ageing one, with more than seven percent of the population projected to be aged 65 and above by 2032), and other social, political, and economic issues that hound us. What can we do The government has outlined plans in broad strokes, but I hope more detailed policies and programs will be forthcoming to ensure that measures are in place to help us cope with global developments that affect our economy. Disaster risk reduction must also be a priority, given the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters. Food security, agriculture, infrastructure, and good governance must also be given importance. Most of all, the government needs to support micro-small-and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It needs to promote job creation and encourage entrepreneurship by simplifying registration requirements, improving access to finance, and putting in place programs to support businesses, big and small. We can all do our part. Aside from working hard, saving for rainy days and reducing unnecessary consumption, we can support industry growth by buying local. Let us buy from farmers and microentrepreneurs. We can put some of our savings in government-regulated MFIs to support MSMEs’ access to finance. We can even be producers and entrepreneurs ourselves. Those who own businesses can explore ways to help their workers. And people in government could advocate reforms to support local industries. There are thousands of ways. Let us follow the examples of those who have gone before us. Let us also do what we can to help others, especially those who are in need. As what Jennifer Granholm has said: “We honor the dead best by treating the living well.” (Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip is a poverty eradication advocate. He is the founder of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually-Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), a group of 23 organizations that provide social development services to eight million economically-disadvantaged Filipinos and insure more than 27 million nationwide.)