MEET OUR CLIENT: Emilia Montinola

Emilia Montinola sells vegetables and other items on wholesale and retail bases in San Carlos City’s public market.

She has been in the business for fifteen years and now occupies two stalls in the public market area. In addition to vegetables, she also sells peanuts in a stand outside her home.

“I started with only a small table selling a few vegetables. Then I received a group loan. My business started growing little by little with the money I borrowed; however, I needed a bigger capital than what the group loan could offer.” [Read more...]

MEET OUR CLIENTS: Reynaldo and Marieta Udal

Just one year ago, neither Reynaldo nor Marieta Udal had imagined where they would be today. Reynaldo had lost his job as a security guard when local demands for the service waned in his hometown of Cantilan in Surigao del Sur. Unsure of how he could find a similar job, Reynaldo fell back on a skill he had had his entire life – making fried carabao rinds, a snack known locally as chicharon. He decided to try to expand his part-time business of making chicharon into a full-time business. [Read more...]

MEET OUR CLIENT: Vergie de la Rosa

Without access to much-needed capital funds, microenterprises rarely grow, even if they have an ideal location. The bustling Public Market in the town of Cabadbaran in Agusan del Norte Province on the island of Mindanao is a great location for operating a profitable business. In the scores of outdoor stalls, customers haggle with vendors over new and used clothing, handicrafts, and household items, among other goods. Kargadors (delivery men) carry the day’s supply of fish, fruits and vegetables through the thick market crowd. Yet, stall owner Mrs. Vergie de la Rosa’s clothing, school supplies, and plastic goods business remained stagnant for many years. [Read more...]

MEET OUR CLIENT: Rosemarie Nuñez Rabaya

Mrs. Rosemarie Nuñez Rabaya started selling fish and other seafood in 1997. She sells various types of seafood such as squid, octopus, prawns, lobsters, grouper and blue marlin on a wholesale basis. Mrs. Rabaya’s store is one among a row of fish shops found in the port of Dagocdoc town in Surigao del Sur.

In 2000, she got her first MABS-designed KITà loan of P10,000($200) from the Rural Bank of Cantilan, which she used as additional capital for her business. Short for Kita Insakto Tipon Asenso (Income and Savings for Progress), the KITà loan is a popular product of the Rural Bank of Cantilan.

[Read more...]

MEET OUR CLIENT: Amina Pido

Until recently, the income of the Pido family had been enough for their needs. Mr. and Mrs. Pido both had regular jobs at Mindanao State University – which is in Marawi City, in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Mrs. Amina Pido was an office clerk while her husband worked as a security guard. But with all their seven children reaching school age and enrolled in school, the additional, mounting expenses for their children’s education forced Mrs. Pido to look for a way to earn additional income. Being a long-time university employee, Mrs. Pido knew that students were always on the lookout for affordable meals. Because her family lived inside the university campus, she decided to set up a carinderia (small restaurant) that would cater to students.

[Read more...]