Senior High School entrepreneurs were recognized by the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) for their entrepreneurial prowess and business acumen in the RCBC Diskartechpreneur Awarding Ceremony held last July 4, 2023 at the RCBC Collaboration Hub, AT Yuchengco Centre, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Calamba Bayside Integrated High School’s “Empanada ni Pepe” and Panghulo National High School’s online cleaning service “Spotless” emerged as Grand Winners in Region 4A and National Capital Region (NCR), respectively. Empanada ni Pepe recorded Php 291,332 in sales, while Spotless achieved Php 106,680 from just P5,000 initial capital in a couple of weeks. Both wiinners received Php 50,000 each in seed funding as capital for business expansion and mobile phones for each student and their faculty advisor.
The other winners from NCR are: 4th runner-up – Fiesta Kutsinta, colorful kutsinta in a variety of flavors, from Malabon City TechVoc and Entrepreneurship Senior High School; 3rd runner-up – Pitaca de Papel, a synthetic paper wallet that promotes financial literacy, from Las Pinas National High School; 2nd runner-up – Kinaiya, curated boxes with emotions as themes, from Malabon National High School; and 1st runner-up – Fav Cha, mulberry juice drink, from Batasan Hills National High School.
From Region 4A, the winners are: 4th runner-up – Tala Student Planner, a multi-purpose notes vault meant to aid students with their school tasks from Santiago Integrated National High School; 3rd runner-up – Fried Sushi-Plant, eggplant-based sushi rolls, from STI College Batangas; 2nd runner-up – One Bite, a sushi-roll inspired fruit salad product, from Francisco E. Barzaga Integrated High School; and 1st runner-up – TamissNaKita, a locally owned sweet delicacy shop, from Francisco E. Barzaga Integrated High School.
The 3rd and 4th runners-up received Php 5,000, while the 2nd and 1st runners-up received Php 10,000 and Php 15,000 in cash prizes, respectively.
Students were immersed in a transformative real-life experience as part of the Madiskarteng Pilipino – Aralin sa Madiskarteng Pananalapi senior high school module, a collaboration between RCBC and DepEd, that aims to equip the next generation of entrepreneurs with essential financial skills and practical business knowledge. The finalists were judged according to their business proposal, performance during the live selling of their products via Kumu, actual sales of their products and services, and DiskarTech transactions made. All young entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to be mentored by top industry experts from the national government, private sector, and start-up sector – Assistant Secretary Mary Jean Pacheco from the Department of Trade and Industry; Independent Consultant Chairman Tess Espenilla from RestartMe Inc., President Mark Ruiz from Hapinoy, Commissioner Atty. Kelvin Lester Lee from the Securities and Exchange Commission, and financial literacy advocate and news anchor Salve Duplito from ABS-CBN News and DZMM.
“I would like to congratulate the DiskarTechpreneur Top 20 finalists from the pilot regions NCR and Region IV-A for their active participation in this exciting event. It is heartening to see your potential being showcased and I hope this experience has instilled in you a sense of confidence, passion, and drive that you will carry forward as you embark on your future careers,” said Vice President Duterte.
“Allow me to express my gratitude to RCBC for relentlessly supporting the Department of Education in our invaluable partnership in promoting financial literacy and inclusion,” Duterte added.
“Beyond recognition and training, this is an opportunity for RCBC to invest in the future of Filipino youth entrepreneurs, to revolutionize our economy, and to demonstrate the unparalleled impact and outcomes of preparing and participating in the global internet economy,” Villanueva said.
“We are excited to see what the future holds for these young Filipinos, and how they seek to banner our mighty flag in the international scene of e-commerce, entrepreneurship and business,” expounded Villanueva.
The competition was initially opened to senior high school students in Metro Manila and Calabarzon but will soon be rolled out to other regions nationwide. “I wish to congratulate RCBC and DepEd for this innovative program. We look forward to scaling this up into a nationwide program and you can count on DTI to support,” said Assistant Secretary Mary Jean Pacheco from the Department of Trade and Industry.
DepEd Director for External Partnerships Services Dr. Margarita Consolacion C. Ballesteros also praised RCBC for spearheading the program. “DiskarTechpreneur makes our students think creatively and work innovatively. We cannot thank RCBC enough for providing our students an avenue to go through the process of becoming who they are,” Ballesteros said.
Ms. Salve Duplito, ANC and DZMM anchor and one of the mentors for the program added, “The DiskarTechpreneur program shows that RCBC is thinking of what the world should be. It redefines what our nation can be with all the potentials that are wrapped up in the minds of our youth by creating that runway so they can grow and our world can get better.”