Social Enterprise in the Time of Pandemic The Case of Igting Maigting na Samahan ng mga Panlipunang Negosyante ng Towerville, Inc.1 and Honey B. Tabiola Social enterprises are seen as the lifeline of many low-income communities, aside from being a significant facet of informal employment in the Philippines. It is usually the only source of income for members, often struggling with employment without social protection and with seasonal work through contracts and subcontracting arrangements. This makes them even more vulnerable in the time of a pandemic. In 2012, informal employment in the Philippines remained high, with most of the jobs in the country found in the informal economy (Serrano et al. 2016). At the lowest end of the value chain in the informal economy are subcontracted and home-based workers, predominantly women who also tend to have the lowest earnings (Chen 2017). Despite challenges, social enterprises and their members continue to make steady progress within their communities using the tools of community organizing and social entrepreneurship. This section documents the case of Igting as a social enterprise, in particular its members’ experiences, struggles, and strategies of collective action to address the challenges in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. About Igting Maigting na Samahan ng mga Panlipunang Negosyante ng Towerville Inc. or Igting is a social enterprise which sells quality garment products and provides custom sewing services (Igting 2017). In 2014, Igting began as a livelihood project of CAMP Asia, Inc., a non-government organization and subsidiary of CAMP International. As a platform for income generation and community empowerment, Igting aims to 1 Contributors from Igting are Wennie Santos, Lea Viray, and Bea Rodriguez. All names provided are pseudonyms. 39

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