Just recently, I got an email from regular reader of my column who miss my views on the Philippine economy, its political landscape and what is the impact of things happening in America. Looking at what has happened over the past months on the Philippines, like the Napoles issue, is I guess the start of a huge cleansing process to reduce or eliminate the level of corruption in our country. I believe this is the legacy that P-Noy will want to leave behind after he finishes his term.

We are all given a chance to serve in our earthly life and this to me is how we will be ‘graded’ once we face our creator, not what religion or spiritual background we come from but how we serve our fellowmen. Serving can take many forms, in negosyo, in politics, in spiritual mentorship through the different faiths, as professionals and the list can go on. It is doing and being your very best in everything you do. Even the biggest political leaders of the past and present, Pnoy and Obama have this opportunity to serve.

What makes the difference is the passion to serve. We saw that from Mother Teresa’s passion to serve the poor. The passion of Pnoy to fight corruption with his ‘daan na matuwid’, and the passion of Obama to implement his health care program so that all Americans will be given a chance to get decent health care.

As entrepreneurs, our passion to serve is seen in the quality of service and products we produce, and the rewards we get when people patronize our products. As we entrepreneurs help other small ones grow, we then push for inclusive growth. To serve without passion leads to failure. What we see in the newspapers today is the process and the result of one passion to serve like in the case of P-Noy as he is hell bent in pursuing his cause against corruption. In Obama’s case, the Republicans want to stop the Obama care and will risk putting the American economy into recession or even a depression using the budget issue, to pressure Obama to rethink his health care program which has already been passed by both houses.

God has given us the free will to decide on things good and bad. It is us in the end who will shape this earth and as our time comes we will be judged accordingly, our faith or religious beliefs gives us the foundation and mentorship that shapes the values on how we will process our decisions in life. The Philippines today has reached economic prosperity and this is a result of decades of many people’s passion to serve our country even during the times when things seemed hopeless.

By the way, our company RFM is celebrating its 55th year anniversary on Sunday and we are thankful for all these years of the opportunity to serve the Filipino consumers. I can say that it is RFM’s passion to serve and giving what consumers need all these years. It is the same passion to serve our fellow Filipinos, as a way to give back to our society thru our support to the Go Negosyo entrepreneurship the past eight years; and through the youth leadership and community service like the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP) which my father Joecon started in 1961.

I am also glad that the partnership between Go Negosyo and BPI Family Ka-Negosyo remains very strong for the past four years. BPI Family president TG Limcaoco and his team have genuinely been supporting the entrepreneurship advocacy by providing relevant financial assistance to many of our Filipino SMEs and organizations like the Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc. (AFFI). Our thanks to them.

This coming Saturday, I will be in Singapore to share our Go Negosyo advocacy to our Filipino professionals there who are thinking of coming back home and re-establishing their careers or starting a business. I am inviting everybody to this event Philippines! This is the Right Time! A Forum on Opportunities: Jobs and Entrepreneurship at Suntec Convention Center, Singapore from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

We aim to inform these OFWs about the opportunities waiting for them in our home country. I will be speaking with Jonathan Yabut (winner, Apprentice Asia), Susan Vidal (financial advisor, Sun Life Philippines), Benedict Hernandez (president, Contact Center Association of the Philippines) Ruel Maranan (chief human resource director, Manila Water/member, Ayala Group executive committee for human resources) and Jose “GG” Zulueta (chief executive officer, ZMG Ward Howell).

With the prominent marketing guru, our good friend and Go Negosyo Angelpreneur Josiah Go, we in Go Negosyo are organizing the Manila run of Magandang Business Advice (MBA) on Marketing and Innopreneurship on Oct. 12 at the RFM Auditorium. We are inviting everyone to join us in this special program which we just did in Naga, Cebu, Davao, and Pampanga.

Also, the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) and Philippine Association of the Professional Regulatory Board Members Inc. will be holding the 2nd Philippine Professional Summit on Oct. 15-16 at the Fiesta Pavilion of Manila Hotel. Our support goes to Teresita R. Manzala (PRC chairperson), Eduardo G. Ong (PAPRB president), and the rest of the organizing team. We welcome everyone to participate.