[This was written by Ding Reyes, Saniblakas president, as the Foundation's greeting to the Asian Social Institute on the occasion of the latter's 38th founding anniversary and holding of the Francis Senden Memorial Lectures on  "Celebrative Culture of Solidarity through Social Enterprise Building." It was developed from discussions with Surf Reyes and Cesar Liporada during the inaugural "Sanib-Sinag" session in May 1999, with ASI President Dr. Mina M. Ramirez, with Joydee C. Robledo of the SanibLakas Program Committee for Cooperative Education on Synergism (C.E.S.) and with Nicky Perlas, president of the Center for Alternative Development Initiatives (CADI), who authored an essay on "associative economics"]

THE ASIAN Social Institute deserves to be congratulated for the Francis Senden Memorial Lecture on "Celebrative Culture of Solidarity Through Social Enterprise-Building," indeed a celebration of ASI's long-term commitment to the realization of social equity and justice, and total human development through empowering enlightenment for all.  This, we believe, would lead to the enjoyment of democratic prosperity.
.......For us in SanibLakas Foundation, a synergism-based organization, prosperity is the enjoyment of abun-dance, of treasures being used and being shared, resources being put together for growth, to be shared all the more.  Economies inextricably link up our separate pockets, as well as our separate stomachs, and so can the pervasive spirit of goodwill in fairness and generosity, which would make people more eager, more efficient, more productive, and altogether more prosperous.
.......Prosperity is the enjoyment not of the prerogative to amass and hoard much wealth, as if it could be brought along on our journey past the grave,  but rather the enjoyment of the ability to share more gifts all around, especially with those who deserve or need most to receive.
.......Prosperity results from synergies bonded by love and it is inextricably linked with the ideals of total human development for all concerned, both in the processes and in the enjoyment of the results.
.......Prosperity and its profound enjoyment come from the spirit and act of...
s h a r i n g.
.......Because cooperatives, by their very definition, are supposed to be the living and exemplary embodiments of synergism in action for the people's direct empowerment, SanibLakas has chosen the cooperative sector in the endeavor to promote the concept of  collective prosperity by pursuing what we call our Cooperative Education on Synergism (CES) program .  The idea is to bring the cooperatives to the position that they would be the most active teachers of synergism for the larger social community.  But we are also into giving trainings for empowerment under our Citizens' Rights Education and Assertion Trainings for Empowerment (CREATE) service program , side by side with the overall popularization of synergism success stories for all to emulate.
.......We are glad that ASI would seriously consider being institutional partners with us when we finally launch on the air, in hopefully just a few weeks from now, a new radio program, in tandem with an active website, to be called "Sanib-Galing!"    When that materializes, the themes and lessons of these Memorial Lectures would reach a broader multitude of listeners.  With ASI optimizing on this opportunity to share on the air, Fr. Senden would surely smile more broadly from where he is "somewhere out there."
SanibLakas will be with ASI as we share with the least of our brethren about sharing everythingh else in the spirit of synergism and the aspiration for collective prosperity.

Makati City, Philippines  October 7, 2000

For the SanibLakas Board of Trustees,
(Sgd.) Ed Aurelio C. Reyes
Founder and President
SanibLakas ng Taongbayan Foundation
6173-C Gabaldon st., Makati,
1210 Philippines