Joey Concepcion: ‘Shoot me in four years if…’

Life in the Philippines will be better in four years or else...businessman Joey Concepcion is willing to take a bullet for his confident prediction.

At a reception in his Makati residence in thanksgiving for the prestigious Padma Shri Award from India, of which Concepcion  was the sole awardee from the Philippines, the Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship said, “‘Build, Build, Build’ as I wrote in my column, is working. Believe me, four years from today let’s see each other again here and you can shoot me if it doesn’t work. Four years from today, you will see the difference. As I have always said Filipinos were never destined for poverty.”

He also announced the forging of an “alliance for prosperity” by different business organizations, including the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“We do not just insulate ourselves, and not share our wealth with those who need it most, and that is the battle cry. The battle cry is ‘Pilipinas angat lahat.’ That program will involve the President, the public sector and the private sector. We have to push forward, just four more remaining years. I know some people can’t wait for the four years to be over but this is the best time for a leader like President Duterte to change the game.”

 Concepcion cited the controversial closure of Boracay last April 26, saying, “What happened in Boracay? I know people are sad about it but that has set a different tone on how serious this President is in changing the lives of the Filipino people. He is very disciplined. In six months, we’ll see total change in Boracay.” Thousands of workers will be displaced by the closure of the world-renowned island, but government believes the rehabilitation will benefit the island in the long run.

(From left) Joey and Marissa Concepcion with Indian Ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar and wife Parvati.

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Joey received the award from Indian President Ram Nath Kovind last April 2 in Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, India, following the announcement in January this year that he was one of the awardees during the visit of President Duterte and his business delegation.

Indian Ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar said during his opening remarks at the reception in Joey’s house that the Indian government received 33,000 nominations for the Padma Shri Award, the fourth highest civilian award given by the government every year during India’s Republic Day.

Mazumdar said that out of the 33,000 nominees, only 73 were chosen — 16 of whom are foreigners like Joey.

Joey shared, “This award is a surprise as I was not supposed to go to India but decided to go instead two days before the expected departure. I realized the prestige of the Padma Shri Award when my taxi driver was proud to meet a Padma Shri awardee after asking me and my family why are we in India.”

The GoNegosyo founder and moving spirit was recognized for his significant contribution to micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) development in the Philippines and across the ASEAN region.

Teased that perhaps the next step in his advocacy is to join government or run for public office, Joey shook his head and said, “They have been saying that for the last 13 years — you all know in this room, as an entrepreneur, when you start making money and you start helping people, it’s very hard to change that lifestyle. We all want our freedom, we can’t conform to certain rules, we want to dress the way we dress. All of those are challenging, that’s why (Trade) Secretary Ramon Lopez took the job and I told the President, ‘Not me, he is the better guy. He’s really doing well’.”

During the reception at his home, with his wife Marissa and mother Marivic looking on proudly, Joey said the Padma Shri Award was especially significant to him because another country has taken note of the big strides in entrepreneurship GoNegosyo has taken in the last 13 years.

“This is different that somebody out there realizes that our microentrepreneurs are to be taken care of. India is similar to us, 1.4 billion people, there is also a lot of poverty in that country and we have the same situation.”

(From left) W Group vice chairperson Rosalind Wee, the author, Sta. Elena Construction president and CEO Alice Eduardo and Marivic Concepcion.

Name a titan of Philippine business and he or she was there that night — from Manny V. Pangilinan to Tessie Coson. Several of the titans present are mentors of GoNegosyo, like construction magnate Alice Eduardo and “carrageenan queen” Rosalind Wee.

“MVP himself was one of those who believed 10 years ago in GoNegosyo, really supportive of our effort. Of course, Alice Eduardo here. The entrepreneurs, our mentors who are here who have been mentoring, all the efforts together with the Department of Trade and Industry people who work in GoNegosyo, all of these people who put their effort, everybody — those 600 vendors that we have today who are out in the field even as we speak, again, thank you to all of you. This is really the way forward.”

It is hard not to be infected by Joey’s optimism and can-do attitude. I remember his father Jose Concepcion Jr. was also one of the prophets of boom of the administration of Cory Aquino, and is best remembered for leading the election watchdog NAMFREL in the country before the snap elections of 1986 when people all but lost confidence in free and honest elections.

The elder Concepcion made famous the line, “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

I believe Joecon’s son is doing the same thing — empowering the poor through entrepreneurship instead of giving up on the system.