The Home Accents Group of the Philippines, Inc. (HAPI), along with other micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs in the Gifts, Decors and Houseware Sector (GDH) and related organizations such as the newly formed Philippine Federation of Furnishings Associations or PhilFFA and Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. or PHILEXPORT attended a 2-day Business Continuity Planning (BCP) seminar conducted by UP ISSI last 6 to 7 October 2016.
Sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry – Board of Investments, a total of 55 participants representing 26 MSMEs completed the seminar, which aimed to develop the participants’ capabilities to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters. The seminar also aimed to enhance MSMEs’ resilience to natural hazards by training them to develop their own business continuity plans.
Ma. Rowena DC. de Jesus, HAPI president and proprietor of That One Piece Enterprise, quoted from the song “The Prayer” in her closing remarks and said that safety is the core message behind BCP. “BCP leads us to a place where we will all be safe,” she said. “We will be safe after a disaster.”
UP ISSI’s head of Training and Entrepreneurship Education Division Engr. Ma. Luisa Solarte-Lee echoed the same sentiment in her closing message as she encouraged all the participants to be BCP advocates and to actualize their learnings from the seminar. “Implement [your BCP] and make it a reality,” she said.
For her part Dr. Romeo P. Balderrama, Jr., HAPI member and chief executive officer of Sarilinlikha Novelties, accepted the challenge. “In six months, we can have a follow through of the BCP seminar,” she said. “Let us be ready.”