P100k "Pondo sa Sipag, Puhunan sa Tiyaga"
NP to name winners of nationwide search for promising entrepreneurs

The Nacionalista Party (NP) led by Senate President Manny Villar is set to announce the winners of its nationwide search for the most innovative and promising entrepreneurs and businesses on Saturday, Aug. 2 at 7 p.m. at the historic Laurel Mansion in Mandaluyong City.

Sixteen entrepreneurs from different regions in the country will each receive P100,000 in additional capital or a total of P1.6 million in grant during the dinner event which the NP is hosting.

It can be recalled that the project, dubbed "Pondo sa Sipag, Puhunan sa Tiyaga" centennial gift, was launched in November last year during NP's 100th year celebration held at the Philippine International Convention Center.

It was NP President Villar, a successful entrepreneur prior to his entry to public service, who conceived the search to promote entrepreneurship as a way of combating poverty among Filipinos and spurring the economy.

"This initiative aims to encourage Filipinos to come up with feasible and innovative business ideas that will help give the much-needed boost to our country's economy," Senate President Villar said.

Prior to the dinner, the products of the winning entrepreneurs will be showcased in booths set up at the Market! Market! Shopping Complex in Taguig City, which the NP president will also visit on Aug. 2 at 10 a.m. The winners have been selected from thousands of entries from across country. "I am very pleased with the amount of submissions that we received in just a matter of weeks after we started this project. Likewise, the quality of these proposals is an indication of the Filipino ingenuity amid these trying times," Villar said.

Villar said, "We earnestly hope that the project will produce the next breed of entrepreneurs that would lead the country to economic recovery. A nation of entrepreneurs will have a greater winning chance in the global economic arena."

With the overwhelming response the initiative received, the NP looks forward to making it a yearly endeavor to prod more Filipinos to take the path of entrepreneurship.