Empowered people make for a prosperous country

The corruption scandal still weighed heavily on my mind last Saturday. It was no ordinary Saturday as it was the day of Go Negosyo's BalikBayan Summit 2025, where we celebrate our overseas Filipinos and help them and their families become successful entrepreneurs here in the Philippines.

- ANGAT LAHAT! JOEY CONCEPCION

With the scale of the corruption running into the billions and the thieves unmasked as government officials, it was understandable how some of our overseas Pinoys would be hesitant to trust the system back home. We now have to work even harder to earn back their trust because, frankly, what these hardworking Pinoys had to go through to make a decent living in a foreign land makes the corruption scandal even more loathsome. Especially when you hear the stories of the ones who came home and built successful businesses in the country.

We highlight their stories through our Inspiring BalikBayan Awards in the hope of encouraging more of our overseas kababayans to explore entrepreneurship. This year's winners - Mark Anthony Angeles, Melvin Awid, Azenith Chimlangco Castalone, Jay Gibson Eronico, Rambie Go, Richard R. Gomez, Rojerette May Martin-Pimentel, Grace Valencia and Rey Aldwin Valeriano-demonstrate the Pinoy's dogged determination to overcome hardship. Many of them began their entrepreneurship journey during the pandemic. Most of them had lost their overseas jobs when the lockdowns hit, with some left with practically nothing. Yet they turned things around and, using the skills and insights they learned from their time abroad, built successful businesses.

And even when they had little to share, some of them opted to put up social enterprises-businesses that benefited communities and employed the marginalized. It seems that the most generous among us are the ones who have the least. They went through tremendous hardship and thus can empathize with the suffering of others.