Profile: Dan Songco '99, Philippines
July, 2004
Dan Songco has dedicated his life to advancing good governance, social justice, and sustainable development. He has helped unseat a corrupt president, headed the Philippines’ largest NGO, created innovative and controversial funding mechanisms to sustain not for profit organizations, and built effective coalitions to shape policy at the national level.
“I guess my social activism springs from my youth where I started to get educated about the realities of life under a period of dictatorship,” he said. “My grandfather was an activist, perhaps it is in my genes.”
Inspired by Begnino Aquino’s campaign to expose corruption in the Marcos regime and outraged by his murder in 1983, Dan left a comfortable life as a television scriptwriter and plunged into the heart of the anti-dictatorship movement. After Corazon Acquino was elected president, Dan worked in the government for several years, absorbing valuable lessons on the workings of bureaucracy. Dan also discovered his passion and talent for development work during this period. He helped establish community programs and joined with others to build coalitions among NGOs and elected representatives in order to shape government policy, especially in support of the rural poor.
By the time of his Eisenhower Fellowship in 1999, Dan had served for six years as the chief executive officer CODE-NGO, an organization with national scope, counting 2,500 NGOs and cooperatives under its umbrella. Among his accomplishments there was the implementation of measures to enforce the network’s code of conduct, thus establishing a legacy of good governance that has helped attract donor support.
After his return to the Philippines, Dan initiated advocacy training modules for what he calls “the successor generation of national civil society leaders,” a specific idea that resulted from his fellowship. More generally, Dan says his Eisenhower experience helped in “giving me greater courage to face up to bigger challenges.”
Dan’s success in confronting bigger challenges was subsequently demonstrated in politics and finance. He organized a good governance campaign that led to president Estrada’s removal from office. To make community development sustainable, he used the innovative and sometimes controversial Peace Bonds, raising enough funds to create a substantial endowment for the NGO networks. Dan plans to devote the next phase of his career to development finance.
When Dan attended the 50th anniversary conference, he found “a huge family reunion where you meet relatives for the first time. … It was quite striking to experience the wealth of the EF human resource after you’ve been reading about it for some time. I am now even more proud to be a part of this group.”
In his speech at the closing session of the 50th anniversary conference, Dan challenged the audience of several hundred: “What do we want the members of this organization to say when it celebrates its 100th year? I would like them to say that this organization has made a significant contribution in easing the burdens of the world.”
Dan was appointed to board of Development Bank of Philippines in 2001 and serves on several government budget and policy committees. He is chair of Pagbabgo, an organization of prominent Filipinos, below 50, engaged in reforming society.
“Dan epitomizes the very best characteristics of an Eisenhower Fellow: leadership with integrity, accomplishment, and passionate commitment,“ said Adrian Basora, former EF President.