COCO LUMBERYARD GROWS WITH MABS LOAN
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For years Mrs. Tessie Cabalida sold small household necessities like cooking ingredients, kitchen utensils, and food containers from a small shop inside her home. Her husband, Mr. Loreto Cabalida, was employed as a chainsaw operator cutting down non-productive coconut trees and sawing the coco lumber into planks for various coco lumberyards. Mrs. Cabalida also doubled as a manicurist to augment the family’s income.
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In 1996, after pooling their savings, the couple opened their own coco lumberyard, with one chainsaw and one worker to help them. The demand for their products was encouraging, but because of a lack of needed capital, they were not able to expand their business.
This situation changed when the Cabalidas learned about the Rural Bank of Dipolog's TIGUM loans. (TIGUM is an acronym for Tubag sa Inyong Panginahanglan ug aron Magmalambuon, a Visayan phrase that means “The Answer to your Needs for Progress”. Incidentally, tigum is also the Visayan term for savings). TIGUM loans are specially designed for microenterprise operators. These loans are generally short-term; from one to six months, and usually do not require collateral to be provided by the borrowers. The Rural Bank of Dipolog established the TIGUM loan program with assistance provided by the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program.
The Cabalidas applied for and received a TIGUM loan of 20,000 pesos (about $400) in 2000. They used that loan to expand the volume of coco lumber that they sold at the lumberyard. As their business grew, the Cabalidas applied for and received several follow-on loans. They recently borrowed 100,000 pesos ($2000), which they used to upgrade their facilities.
Their business has continued to thrive and now has eight workers, including Mr. and Mrs. Cabalida. The business now has four chainsaws. They have also acquired a multicab, a mid-size van used for transporting lumber.
Profits from the business have also allowed the Cabalidas to build a house near their shop.
The Rural Bank of Dipolog became a MABS participant bank in 2000 and developed their microfinance loan services with technical assistance and training provided by MABS technical staff.
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