BY ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO REPORTER

The late former President Ramon Magsaysay believed that the Philippines would achieve better progress if the majority of Filipino school graduates would become businessmen rather than employees. That idea became the inspiration for a group of alumni of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM, or the University of the City of the Manila) to initiate a program that trains students to become future entrepreneurs.

“We want to teach students here in PLM on how to utilize the skills they learned in school and channel them to entrepreneurship,” said Josefina Velasco, secretary of the PLM Scholars Foundation Inc.

The foundation launched the entrepreneurship-training program last year, teaching mostly graduating students the basics of starting and managing an enterprise.

The students submit a variety of business ideas, which are reviewed by the different colleges. They
recommend up to 20 students to receive the free training, a modest monthly stipend.

Most of the students in the entrepreneurship program are into T-shirt printing and selling school supplies. At least one engineering student started a computer shop with help from the program.

Training program

The training sessions are being conducted at the President Ramon Magsaysay Entrepreneurial Center located inside the PLM campus in Intramuros, Manila. The center was established largely through the endowment of former Sen. Ramon “Jun” Magsaysay Jr. in memory of his father.

The center and the training program are now being handled by the foundation, which gets its funds from alumni donations.

Trainers are mostly PLM alumni themselves who have become successful entrepreneurs.

The PLM Scholars Foundation is coordinating with the undergraduate colleges of the university, asking them to recommend students who might want to join the training program for free.

“For now, PLM students and new graduates are the target beneficiaries of the program. We are looking at the possibility of extending the training program to other interested persons, especially those who really want to start a business,” Velasco said.

She said that those who were trained were given P1,500 monthly assistance by the foundation for them to be able to start their small enterprises.

For now the entrepreneurship trainees continue receiving the monthly stipend so long as they remain in the program. But the center plans to conduct an evaluation soon of the would-be entrepreneurs fledgling businesses.

Training sessions for the second semester are still being scheduled but would probably start in January or February, Velasco said.