As he completes his two-year term as member of the Board of Trustees of the Partnership for Development Assistance in the Philippines or PDAP, outgoing Chairperson, Mr. Benjamin Abadiano, addressed the membership in the recent 36th PDAP Annual Membership Meeting, by reflecting on PDAP’s key successes and challenges in the past few years while sharing insights and hopeful vision for the future. Firstly, Mr. Abadiano gave a heartfelt tribute to one of the pillars of PDAP, the late Ambassador Howard Dee. He recalled that Ambassador Dee played a crucial and significant role in the early stages of establishing PDAP by facilitating partnerships between the Philippine NGOs and our partners in Canada. He added that Ambassador Dee’s leadership and advocacy in support of development initiatives in the Philippines contributed to the early successes of PDAP in addressing socio-economic concerns in the country.
Mr. Abadiano then reflected on the past year and highlighted PDAP’s new strategic direction of uplifting the lives of disadvantaged families and communities through collective rural social enterprises. He said that despite limited resources, PDAP has sustained its efforts, with some of its CRSEs partner-beneficiaries, like the Global Wellness and Organic Corporation (GlowCorp), showing significant success and making remarkable impact. He cited that GlowCorp from January to July 2024 earned around Php1.66M and noted that this is expected to reach Php2.7M by year end. He also highlighted the accomplishments of the USAID-funded Strength Counter-trafficking in Persons (SCTIP) Project in establishing local systems and partnerships for more effective and sustainable CTIP in the Philippines. He expressed his delight in knowing that USAID has signified its interest of extending the project for another three years.
Mr. Abadiano then acknowledged that while the successes of both GlowCorp and the SCTIP are worth celebrating, there remains the ongoing challenge of securing more funding support and ensuring PDAP’s sustainability. However, he expressed his optimism that through the help and commitment of its members, PDAP will soon overcome this challenge. In closing, Mr. Abadiano thanked everyone, especially the membership, for their continued support and guidance to PDAP. He emphasized that one of PDAP’s strengths is the commitment of its members. He concluded that PDAP’s achievements over the years are a testament of the power of collective actions, and that by working together, PDAP will achieve even greater heights in the years to come. He then enjoined the membership to celebrate PDAP’s success, learn from its challenges and recommit to the noble cause of development assistance in the Philippines.
