Sunday, June 22, 2008 2 women leaders demonstrate success in both public, financial fronts By Katrina A. Balmaceda Sun.Star Correspondent With Rene H. Martel
FROM rags to riches.
This was how San Jose Barangay Captain Marinisa Erana Arinasa, 54, described her life in a nutshell.
The northern Cebu City village chief, though, was surprised to find herself the “richest” among 80 barangay captains in the city, based on the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).
She listed P17 million in total assets, with liabilities amounting to P1.7 million.
Marinisa admitted she thought there are others more moneyed than she is. But then again, a lot of things in her life have come unexpectedly, including her assuming the role of a public servant.
She took the mantle of leadership from husband Rodegelio when she won over Edgar Borces in a bitterly contested election.
“Basta naa ka’y honesty ug pagpaubos, ma-successful gyud ka (As long as you have honesty and humility, you will surely succeed),” she said.
For her, success began with mangoes.
As a third-grader, Marinisa already had a knack for buying and selling. She recalled her summer travels, when she helped bring mangoes from Cebu to sell in Butuan. She did this until she was in sixth grade.
This was her first business attempt, and little did she know that it foreshadowed a turning point in her future.
As Marinisa grew up, mangoes gave way to banana candies and, later on, yemas, which she gave to her younger sister Magdalena, who sold them at school.
The sisters shared the profit.
Mango leaves
Marinisa also remembered waking up at 4 a.m. each day when she was in high school so she could buy supplies in Barangay Lorega-San Miguel for her parents’ carenderia.
This way, she learned to cook caldereta and humba, two dishes she now sells in a carenderia of her own.
Not surprisingly, she took up commerce in college. There, Marinisa fell in love with Rodegelio.
They had previously known each other because Rodegelio lived in a neighboring barangay.
They married each other when Marinisa was only a sophomore at the University of San Jose-Recoletos; Rodegelio was in his third year of college, taking up mechanical engineering.
She struck big the first time when, already married, she sold mango leaves to a company that makes mosquito coil.
Providing 2,000 kilos per week bought at only 25 centavos per kilo, this pushed forward her commerce.
After 37 years of marriage, Rodegelio’s engineering skill and Marinisa’s business savvy have borne fruit, proving to be a perfect match.
A gamble
With what she calls “a gamble,” Marinisa and her husband took out a loan of P30,000 in 1982 and embarked on a sand-and-gravel hauling venture and then a construction business.
Their first project was providing sand and gravel for a road project from Carmen to San Remigio town.
They since became the source of sand and gravel for many infrastructure ventures, including an ongoing project in San Carlos City, Oriental Negros for a biodiesel power plant.
Public service beckoned in 1994, when the then incumbent barangay captain encouraged her husband to run.
She said the residents campaigned hard for Rodegelio that they spent “not even a peso.”
It was her turn in October last year. This time, she had to shell out some bucks from her construction earnings, as competition was fierce.
Marinisa now advocates gender equality and equal attention for women, men, youth and senior citizens.
This she personifies in her married life.
Whether it is on taking a big business risk or shopping for new clothes, she and her husband consult each other, Marinisa confessed.
They assuaged each other’s doubts, she said, when they took out a loan for their first vehicle. The green jeepney, now colored violet, remains in use today.
Gardening
The Arinasas acquired more vehicles through financing or staggered payments, seeing that having seven children and lots of activities meant a need for more cars.
She herself grew up in a big family, being the second among 13 siblings. That, she said, explains her drive to find ways to earn profits.
These days, she squeezes in some gardening as a way of relaxation, finding enthusiasm in raising and eating vegetables.
And when she is neither at the barangay hall nor following up on barangay projects, she checks out their construction business, sells beauty products, and attends meetings of the Quota International, where she is a member of the board of directors.
She hopes to put up a public high school in San Jose.
After climbing from rags to riches, Marinisa sits back and sips her tea, content in seeing what she has achieved after half a century.
Her construction business, buying-and-selling on the side, brought her a comfortable home and vehicles, and sent her children to school.
She said her properties, acquired through “guts, risks, and honesty” are all declared in her SALN.
Difference
In the south, the same dedication to honesty also made Buhisan Barangay Captain Rustica Asid a cut above the rest.
The 55-year-old Asid could not remember if her assets have grown or gone smaller, but she thanked God for the blessings.
Her SALN reflected a total of P6.141 million in real, personal, and other properties, making her the fifth richest Cebu City barangay captain, and second to Marinisa among mountain barangay village chiefs.
“Kaloy-an lang pud ko sa Ginoo nga sa among paningkamot sa akong bana natagaan mi’g grasya (God smiled on my and my husband’s efforts, in giving us blessings),” she said, her voice betraying tiredness when interviewed.
She said she just came from the barangay chapel, where the image of the Virgin Mary from the Upper Lindogon, Sibonga town shrine was billeted, to monitor the coming and going of guests from other places, when interviewed.
She said her assets were in the form of houses her family rent out, cash in bank, and piggeries.
On her second term as barangay captain, Asid admitted that detractors often cited her wealth in accusing her of pocketing government funds.
“I was even accused of siphoning off Congressman Antonio Cuenco’s funding given to the DPWH. But God knows that what we have are products of our labors. It is good that those who know us would attest that we did no wrong,” she said in Cebuano.
She gets over P10,000 in monthly honorarium, which she said is not enough compensation for the work required of a barangay captain.
Like Marinisa, who believes women can make a difference, Asid is grateful for the opportunity to serve.
“Serve the people and the community man ni atu-a. Ingon sila nga babaye na ang kapitan walay mahimo, naa man tay agi (They said that I am just a woman barangay captain and would not be able to accomplish anything, but I proved them wrong),” she said.
