A Letter to PEF Partners and Friends
20 October 2008
GREETINGS OF PEACE AND SOLIDARITY!
The PEF Board of Trustees would like to share with you some important news on the PEF directions and operations. Allow me to outline the initiatives we are taking to address three major challenges.
BUILDING ON OUR GAINS. After nearly seven years of operation, the PEF has made much progress towards its mission of promoting opportunities for the rural and urban poor to liberate themselves from poverty, principally through development financing and technical assistance to civil society organizations that help the poor, and through the management of the PEF endowment fund.
We are heartened to note some key indicators of this progress. By 2007, PEF loans and grants
for 952 projects have provided, among others: (a) community potable water systems reaching
over 15,000 poor households; (b) support to livelihood and enterprise projects nationwide (75%
of them in microfinance), benefiting over 40,000 individual entrepreneurs; and (c) assistance to
coalitions of civil society organizations organized around 17 Partnership and Access Centers
(PAC) in PEF priority provinces. Through prudent financial management, we have seen the
PEF endowment fund grow by 26% until 2007. (Unfortunately, recent adverse developments in
the global financial system have already undermined our financial gains – an ominous challenge
we face and further cite below.)
Still, despite our progress towards the PEF mission, much, much more remain to be done to support the work of civil society and communities in reducing poverty and marginalization in our country. Likewise, the PEF continues to face challenges in its efforts to be an increasingly effective development support institution.
Our most important challenge is how to build and improve on what PEF has already achieved. We are, therefore, undertaking a strategic evaluation of PEF programs in terms of the results and impact on the lives of the poor and their communities. This independent review has been proposed by the PEF members themselves, and the project was adopted at the March 2008 PEF General Assembly.
STRENGTHENING THE ORGANIZATION. A parallel concern that we seek to address is how to continuously improve the PEF organization as the instrument to carry out the PEF mission and strategic directions. We are thus undertaking a review of the existing management and operations systems to address identified organizational concerns, and more importantly, to better align these with the PEF directions in the coming years. An audit of PEF’s current management and operations systems is a crucial component in the overall organizational review and strengthening process.
PRESERVING THE PEF ENDOWMENT FUND. Following quickly on the heels of the financial crisis that has built up over the past year, earnings of our endowment fund have been significantly reduced. As this is the lifeblood of PEF’s support to poverty eradication efforts in the country, the Board of Trustees is gravely concerned about protecting the fund and managing its growth in the face of a global economic slowdown. In the short run, we will be adopting a more restrained strategy in the consideration of grants, while we study carefully how to maximize the growth of the PEF Endowment Fund under the expectedly worsening investment environment.
We assure you that the Board of Trustees is fully cognizant of the importance and urgency of the challenges which PEF must address to become an even more effective organization. We will keep you informed of the strategic steps we are taking to handle these challenges. Finally we thank you for your continuing support to the work of PEF, especially as we support your own efforts to build stronger and more prosperous communities in our beloved country.
In order to ensure a direct link between you and the PEF Board and management, please feel free to contact any of the PEF Board of Trustees, whose names are listed below, at email address pefboard @ pef.ph or the Executive Director, Veronica F. Villavicencio, at the email address pef @ pef.ph. If you wish, you may specify to whom you want to address any query or message.
In the face of these major challenges, we firmly believe that you will remain with us, steadfast in our jointly owned mission to empower the poor and build lasting peace.
In behalf of the PEF Board of Trustees, we remain in the service of the poor,
Sincerely yours,
Archbishop ANTONIO J. LEDESMA, S.J., D.D.
Chairperson
(Original Signed)
MONER M. BAJUNAID
Vice Chairperson
Member for Mindanao CSO networks
Rev. Fr. NORBERTO A. EYULE
Member for Luzon CSO networks
EMMANUEL C. AREÑO
Member for Visayas CSO networks
CARMENCITA T. ABELLA
Member for national CSO networks
PACITA U. JUAN
Treasurer
Member for business sector
ROGELIO G. DECAL
Member for national CSO networks
ARTISO A. MANDAWA
Member for Basic Sectors
ANA R. OLIVEROS
Member for national CSO networks