PASSION MAY well have been the driving force that fueled two people to pursue what later on would be deemed worthy of the Cardinal Sin Book Award (CSBA).

Ateneo Center for Organization Research and Development Executive Director Regina Hechanova-Alampay and alumnus Elmer Nocheseda (AB Eco ‘81) were recipients of this year’s award.

Hechanova-Alampay’s book For the People, With the People: Developing Social Enterprises in the Philippines and Nocheseda’s book Palaspas, an Appreciation of Palm Leaf Art in the Philippines catapulted them to the shortlist.

“I have always liked to write but to be honest, I didn’t think I had the gift for prose so I never actually thought I would be recognized for writing,” Hechanova-Alampay said.

“But as I tell my kids, it’s not just about talent but about passion and hard work.”

Nocheseda shared her enthusiasm upon recieving mint copies of the book, wrapped in brown paper. “[The book] is the realization of my lifetime passion and obsession.”

According to its website, “The Cardinal Sin… Book Awards recognize authors or publishers whose work promote total human development, Gospel values, and Filipino culture, through the effective use of the latest communications technology in book publishing.”

Filipino essentials

Whereas Nocheseda’s book revolves around culture and tradition with palm leaves as the centerpiece, Hechanova-Alampay’s sits at livelihood and sustainability with social enterprises as the focus.

“Palm leaf art is found in our rituals, altars, festivals, food packages, baskets, hats, shelter and playthings,” said Nocheseda.

While searching for words related to palm leaf art, Nocheseda said that, in the process, he realized that the words themselves revealed the functions of palm leaves in early Filipino communities.

Nocheseda researched a number of books that logged words that involved palm leaves. He went as far as looking into books that are hundreds of years old like the 1613 Tagalog vocabolario of Fr. Pedro de San Buenaventura, OFM and microfiche copy of the rare 1711 Samar-Leyte lexicon of Fr. Mateo Sanchez, SJ.

Meanwhile, Hechanova-Alampay said that social enterprise is a mix of traditional ways in running a business and empowerment of the poor through livelihood programs.

“Here we are seeing a different way of empowering communities and running a business—one where the communities are partners in running the business and where the proceeds are shared across stakeholders,” she said.

She adds that social enterprises are important to Filipinos because of the growing incidents of poverty.

“We need more radical solutions to poverty alleviation other than the trickle-down approach [for] economic development.”

Cultural finds

Nocheseda said, “I found out that [despite] our ethno linguistic differences, the palm leaf art unites us, not only among ourselves, but also with our Asia-Pacific neighbors.”

He cited the word patupat which is the rectangular sweetmeat pouch in Ilocos as an example.

He said that it was an “obvious cognate of katumpat of the Sama Dilaut, ketupat of Malaysia, ketipat of Bali, kupat of Java, and katupat of Guam.

“It is fun to be curious about our Filipino selves, our past, and our culture. Even the smallest detail is actually the most exciting…What we usually label as common indeed [provides] us with valuable insights as to who we really are,” he added.

Hechanova-Alampay also had a dawning realization during her research for her book.

“We are a collectivist culture and there is a genuine concern for our kapwa (fellow men).  These are values that we can harness in order to make social enterprises work,” she said.

She said that her book is about empowering urban women, providing families with a home, turning garbage into gold, improving the quality of life of employees or building the capabilities of people and organizations.

“More than this, these are stories that show the power of a collective,” she said.

“After all, that is the heart of a social enterprise – an organization for and with the people.”