WelcometotheNewFilipinoLifestyleDirectory.Wehavecompiledover500busi-
nesses, entrepreneurs, events and organizations from Los Angeles, California to Ermita, Manila.
Being on `The LIST' is free, so you can feel comfortable knowing that any listing that you choose to
patronize offers great service, quality products and have been chosen personally by our Publishers,
Editors and Affiliates.
We encourage you to support the Filipino Entrepreneurial Renaissance and Buy Pinoy. Whether
you live in Hollywood or right here in Manila, take the time to support the small-business entre-
preneurs who make this country so strong. While we all love the malls, `big businesses' and `major
brands' alike, let's not forget the `little people' who are the life blood of the Philippines.
In the Philippines, entrepreneurship is a `right-of-passage' and Filipinos are naturals at it. Many
take the in-home convenience store selling ice candy and 3 in 1 coffee, the small fruit stand with
carved pineapple and mangos, or the corner karinderya restaurant for granted. However, accord-
ing to data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) they are the emerging power of the
country.
The fact is, almost all (99.6% according to DTI) of registered businesses in the Philippines are
micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and these often over-looked start-up entrepreneurs
provide over 60% of total jobs in the country ­not the big businesses and celebrity entrepreneurs
"Our Filipino entrepreneurs contribute so much to the country's economy and provide the livelihood
we most often see in the mass media.
of most of our workforce. This is why our micro, small and medium entrepreneurs need and deserve
all the support they can get," says Manny Aligada, Head of Corporate and SME Segments, Globe
In addition, these millions and millions of registered ­and non-registered- entrepreneurs spend
Business.
nearly all of their earnings within the community. Many of them; believe it or not, are funding
their children's secondary and college education, their parents and grandparents and they are the
Just as in the United States, many self-made entrepreneurs in the Philippines are the epitome of
main `suppliers' for many large companies: such as Colgate-Palmolive, Coca Cola, Pepsi and Liquor
entrepreneurial spirit. Some of them, in fact, never finished grade school, have never received bank
Distributors.
financing, do not own a credit card and literally launched their business with little ­to nothing.
The unsung heroes of this booming new economy, these `small guys' and ladies collectively hold the
power to Philippine Success in their hands.

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