Thirty-one microfinance unit (MFU) officers, managers, and supervisors from 22 Luzon and Visayas participating banks (PBs) attended the Luzon-Visayas Regional Roundtable Conference held July 8 in Manila. The theme of the conference was “Enhancing Bank Performance Through Staff Incentives Scheme”.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor, Rafael Buenaventura, swore into office the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) Board of Directors for the fiscal year 2004-2005. The induction was held on June 30 in Manila.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Senen Glorioso, the new RBAP President, outlined his priority programs. The expansion of microfinance services to the countryside through the installation of the MABS Approach was among the programs that he cited.

MABS consultants conducted an on-site savings mobilization workshop at the Rural Bank of Tacurong from June 30 to July 2 in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat. The workshop served as a pilot-test for the savings mobilization module, which was developed to form part of MABS’ standard training modules.

MABS conducted a workshop from June 27 to July 3 in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao to train the third batch of MABS Technical Resource Specialists (MABSTeRS). Thirteen MF staff members from eight Mindanao PBs completed the seven-day training.

The MABSTeRS Program taps qualified managers and supervisors of PBs and trains them to provide MABS training and technical services to other rural banks. Two previous batches of specialists were trained in August 2003 and February 2004.

The modules discussed during the workshop were: MF best practices, credit and background investigation, cashflow analysis, zero tolerance towards delinquency, service quality, and marketing.

The cumulative amount of loans disbursed by MABS PBs since 1999 exceeded PhP4 billion (US$71.4 million) in May 2004. Since 1999, MABS’ 137 PB units have disbursed a total of PhP4.03 billion in 377,142 loans to more than 132,000 new microborrowers. The number of small savings accounts has also increased by more than 224,000 over the last five years. The total amount of small savings mobilized has increased by more than PhP345 million (US$6.1 million).

Thirteen managers and MF supervisors from nine Luzon PBs attended the 2nd Luzon MF Supervisors Forum held June 22 - 23 in Manila.

The Forum aimed to enhance effective supervision by providing supervisors with additional skills in staff management. During the Forum, participants shared actual challenges in the work place and outlined corrective and preventive measures. The microfinance performance of each bank was also reviewed.

The following topics were discussed during the Forum: the roles of the supervisor, corrective and preventive approaches to problem solving, productive conflict management, harnessing Filipino values for team building, and enhancing staff discipline and motivation

To prepare MABS Participating Banks (PBs) for the rollout of jewelry loans, a jewelry appraisal course was conducted June 3-5 in Davao City, Mindanao. Twenty-one representatives from eight Mindanao PBs attended the workshop. Participants learned different techniques for appraising gold, diamonds, and other gemstones.

During the recently concluded Asia Pacific Bankers Congress held in Manila, Philippines last March 25-26, 2004, a rural bank from the Southern Philippines emerged as a runner-up in the Asian Banking Awards 2004 in the Category for Microfinance Product or Program; the winner of the said category was the Taiwan Business Bank. The Sariling Unlad, Kita at Impok (SUKI) Microfinance Program of the Rural Bank of Sto. Tomas (Davao), Inc. was one of over 105 entries from 49 Asian countries which competed under eight categories for the honor of garnering the much-coveted Asian Banking Awards.

Three MABS participating banks’ clients won major awards in the 2004 Citigroup Microentrepreneur of the Year Awards.

RBAP President Daniel Arcenas was a panelist in the Innovations in Microfinance: Spotlight on Financial Integration conference held at the Asia Society meeting in New York City on May 18.

Thirty-six participants from 11 Luzon MABS PBs attended a microfinance (MF) refresher course held from May 17 to 21 in Intramuros, Manila.

RBAP President Daniel Arcenas attended the Global Network for Banking Innovation in Microfinance annual meeting in Mexico City. The Global Network for Banking Innovation in Microfinance includes leaders from banks and other regulated financial institutions that share experiences in how banks can profitably provide microfinance services.

A total of 72 microfinance unit staff members from 36 participating banks (PBs) were oriented to and trained on the MABS Performance Monitoring System (MPMS) during three separate seminars in May. Seminars were held in Cagayan de Oro City for Northern Mindanao and Visayas PBs, Davao City for Southern Mindanao PBs, and in Manila for Luzon PBs.

Rural Banker 2000 (RB2000) is designed specifically for rural banks in the Philippines to strengthen their management information system (MIS) data collection and reporting capabilities for traditional banking activities as well as microfinance operations. The software was developed as part of the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program.

At the invitation of the Bank of Tanzania, RBAP-MABS Program Chief of Party John Owens gave a presentation on Philippine rural microfinance, with a focus on rural banks and their experience with microfinance under the Program during the 3rd Tanzanian Annual National Conference on Microfinance, which was held from March 15-17 in Arushu, Tanzania. Microfinance experts and practitioners from all over the world attended the conference, which was hosted by the Bank of Tanzania, the country’s Central Bank.

At a ceremony held on March 29 in Davao City, seven MABS participating banks received EAGLE Awards in recognition of their excellent performance in managing their microfinance operations. The EAGLE Awardees were: Banco Santiago de Libon, Bangko Kabayan, New Rural Bank of Victorias, Rural Bank of Dulag, Rural Bank of Tacurong, Rural Bank of Cantilan, and the Kapatagan Valley Bank.

This is the second year that the Program gave out the EAGLE Awards. The awards are based on a bank’s EAGLE rating, which measures performance in five areas (Efficiency, Asset quality, Growth, Liability structure, and Earnings).

Ninety presidents, senior managers, and microfinance Unit (MFU) officers from 36 participating banks convened for the 2nd MABS National Roundtable Conference in Davao City on March 29-30.

Thirty-one participants from eight rural banks completed the last MABS Approach Training and Technical Services (MATTS) module, Loan Administration and Management, on March 19, 2004. Associated Resources for Management and Development, Inc.(ARMDEV), a certified provider of MATTS, conducted the training. ARMDEV consultants will provide the banks with on-site technical assistance in the next two weeks. The eight banks that completed training are the following: Rural Banks of Abucay, Jacinto, Mallig Plains, Luzon, Cainta, Siargao, Pililia, and the First United Farmers Rural Bank.

The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines – Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (RBAP-MABS) Program hosted a conference for users of the banking software it developed, the Rural Banker 2000 (RB2000), on March 12 in Manila. Forty-four participants representing 25 banks attended the conference, which was held so that users could share and discuss common issues and solutions to frequently encountered problems. Technical staff from the software’s rollout companies Automated Systems and Equipment Corporation (ASEC) and Integrated Systems and Equipment Corporation (ISSEC) provided workarounds and recommended long-term solutions. The features of the software’s updated version, RB2000 Version 1.1, were also discussed.

Eleven microfinance unit supervisors/heads from six participating banks attended the MABS Technical Resource Specialists (MABSTeRS) workshop held from February 16-20, 2004.