Socorro Alejandro chosen as "Person of the Year" Posthumous Award
05 Apr 2015
We would like to share our founder Socorro Alejandro's posthumous award given last March 29th day of March 2015 at the Grand Ballroom of the Pres. Ramon Magsaysay Center, Roxas Blvd. Malate, Manila.
The award reads, "In recognition and appreciation of her unselfless dedication and commitment in serving and empowering the people towards love of God, country and family through advocacy, leadership development and capability building, in partnership with all sectors and individuals who have faith in the Filipinos."'
We proudly attest to Mrs. Alejandro being a role model in her devotion to the Lord as well as her being a dedicated wife and mother to her five children. She was very patriotic. She loved the Philippines and from the early beginnings of the business has always taught about honesty, integrity, paying the correct taxes and giving back. Let's look back at an extraordinary woman's life.
The late Mrs. Socorro Alejandro, Corit, liked to call herself an ordinary housewife. But she was always a woman with a mission. When she started the family business, you could say she did not have any extraordinary advantages. She did not have a business degree. She didn't have a grand marketing strategy. Neither did she have capital nor connections. She was also shy and timid. What she did have was common sense, a good intuition and a God-given gift of creativity. She enjoyed making things with her hands. She was very thrifty, industrious, she had faith in herself, and more importantly, faith in God.
She prayed for a business. That was her capital, her "puhunan" (capital). And so, in spite of all that she didn't have, and the little that she did, the Alejandro family was able to build a business with an identifiable brand. Today there are 16 papemelroti stores, with 5 more opening this year. There is a factory in Bulacan, and a building along Roces Avenue that houses the main branch and offices of the business. There is also the papemelroti website which makes papemelroti products available to Filipinos worldwide. Corit Alejandro would be the first to admit that she was utterly amazed at what her little hobby grew into. She always said it is was miracle.
Corit started with making stuffed toys from scrap cloth, dolls in fancy dresses which she would display in the window. There wasn't anything else in the store - all her merchandise was in the display window, and the customers needed to ring the doorbell to get in. With Corit, being in business was not just about making money. It was more an expression of herself and what she believed in. Papemelroti expressed the best of herself. If you visit papemelroti, you will see her love for God, for family, and for country displayed in the products. You will see how she wanted to help others and always encouraged people to go into business.
The name papemelroti is formed from the first syllables of the names of her children Patsy, Peggy, Meldy and Robert. Today, her grandchildren are also successfully designing new products for the shops. The family continues her legacy of helping people in need of livelihood. They design products for people to make like jewelry, handpainted gifts, paper products, leather jewelry and purses, and sell these in the papemelroti stores.
Corit Alejandro used up all the gifts and talents God gave her, sowing it into her business. She had dreams, she made plans and worked hard. She worked with God to make it all come true.
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