Saturday, November 26, 2011

CCT Partners Level Up!


Praise God for the success of CCT's 1st Partners’ Day, a one-day showcase of products from Luzon partners. Some 126 micro entrepreneurs from six CCT Luzon areas exhibited their products and learned from mini-lectures  at the CCT Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center on November 26, 2011. 

Products on display included: handicrafts, buko juice,  native cakes, t-shirts, curtains and bed sheets, relleno (stuffed milkfish), boneless milkfish, gold and silver jewelry,  accessories, processed meats,  peanut butter, straw bags and hats, coin purses made of drinking straws, shoes,   accessories, house decor made of drinking straws, bags made of recycled newspaper, charcoal stoves, pastries, perfumes,  pizza, blinds, ready to wear clothes and much more!

Kerwin Tan (left) owner of Jimini Pizza and  program coordinator
 for CCT's Business Mentoring Ministry,
and Alice Pineda (right), head of the Business Development team,
 with a partners' day awardee.  During the morning session
  Kerwin shared the story of how his business
grew from one brand ten years ago
to six brands and 136 branches today,
and from two persons  (himself and a 
quality control person)
to 250 employees today. "We leveled up after
we dedicated our business to the Lord," he said.

Jinggoy Buensuceso, artist, speaking on
market trends and product design. Other
seminar topics were on food marketing,
 product branding, kape't buhay (coffee and
life), and helps from the packaging center
of DOST and from the design center
of DTI.























Several participants received awards at the end of the day. These were:  

    • Kool Kalan - Level-up award - product with the most potential of  leveling -up 
    • NCR South Taguig - Branch level-up award -  the  CCT branch where the level- up partner is involved
    • Central Luzon Pangasinan - best food  product display – surpasses other products in terms of presentation attractiveness, creativity
    •  Espasol with moringa (malunggay) - Best food product concept:    product is unique or creative, original,  flavorful and marketable
    • Recycled Bag, NCR - Best non-food product concept:  product is unique or creative, original, and marketable
    • Dishwashing liquid, Cavite - Best packaging  (non-food category): – for microentrepreneur  whose packaging of her product is a cut above the rest: attractive , creative, suitable to the product
    • Cavite - Best area booth design – CCT area whose showcase of products is creative, well arranged, original, and culturally oriented 
    • Laguna and Batangas - Best participating area – CCT area staff who are well organized and who gathered the most products and qualified partners for the event
    Micro entrepreneurs with product displays were from the following CCT areas:

    • NCR South – Pasay, Cabrera, San Andres, Tondo, Taguig, Paranaque
    • NCR North – Bagong Silangan, Payatas, Araneta, Batasan, Novaliches, Munoz, Commonwealth, Tandang Sora 
    • Cavite  - General Mariano Alvarez, Tanza, Tagaytay
    • Laguna – Calamba, Cabuyao, San Pedro, Sta. Rosa, Binan
    • Batangas
    • Rizal  - Antipolo, San Mateo, Cainta, Taytay, Montalban, Pasig
    • Bulacan and Central Luzon – Malolos, Pulilan, Magalang, Dagupan, Urdaneta
    • Camanava – Malabon, Caloocan
    Photos by Ciara Tan

    Nanay Andresa Meets Head Office Staff

    Nanay Andresa Javines (second from left), supplier of tuna packing material, at the CCT head office in Manila.
    To her  right is eldest daughter Analee. 

    CCT’s first Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year awardee, Nanay Andresa Javines,  personally shared with Manila staff the story of how God has blessed her business and family, during a lunch fellowship at the head office.   

    Here is the full text of Nanay Andresa’s speech:

    Magandang araw po sa inyong lahat, pagbati po galing sa ating Panginoong Hesus na tagapagligtas. Sa aking testemonya sa oras na ito, hindi ko po sukat akalain na ako’y naparito sa Maynila kasama ang aking anak.  Akin pong iniisip na itong lahat ay panaginip lang, panaginip na ngayon ay nagkakatotoo, kaya sa oras na ito ako po’y nakatayo sa inyong harapan.

    Bago ko po ipagpapatuloy ang aking testemonya, ako’y magpapakilala muna.  Ako po pala si Andresa Marquez Javines, may asawa, may anim na anak, nakatira sa FVR Village, Fatima General Santos City, Mindanao.

    Sa aking testemonya ngayon kung paano ako nakapag-umpisa. Dalaga pa po ako, ako’y nagnenegosyo na.  Nakapag-asawa at 15 years kaming nangngupahan, hanggang may nakita kaming hulugang lote. Nag-umpisa akong magtinda sa aming bahay na kung tawagin ay sari-sari store.  Yong aking kaibigan nag-imbita sa akin na sumama at makinig ng programa ng CCT at sumama naman ako.  Ako po ay nag-observe, dahil ako po ay Christian.

    Na bless po ako dahil una po sila’y nanalangin, pangalawa, may sharing, pangatlo, may salita ng Dios.

    Sabi ko sa sarili ko, hindi lang pala pautang ito kundi spiritual upbringing pala --  iba sa lahat na micro finance.

    Nagsimula ako sa CCT noong year 2000.  Unang loan ko po ay P4,000. Binayaran hanggang sa nagtiwala sa akin yong P.A. at manager. Year 2003, nakapagpatayo ako ng bahay at nagsimula akong magbusiness ng tuna. Year 2005 nakabili ako ng dalawang motor, apat na lote at pinatayuan ng boarding house with eight rooms, at hindi lang diyan nagtatapos ang kabutihan ng Panginoon.  Nakapagtapos din ang aking tatlong anak sa kolehiyo at ngayon ay nakapagtrabaho na.  My dalawa pa po akong anak na nag-aaral ngayon at yong isa ay HI (hearing impaired).

    Maliban sa tuna business ko para export, ako na rin ngayon ang nagsusupply ng gel ice at tuna materials for export sa mga suki sa fish port. Dagdag kita din po ito.  Ganyan ako pinagpala ng Panginoon.  Napakabuti ng Panginoon sa aking buhay kaya hanggang ngayon ako’y nagpapatuloy na naglilingkod sa Kanya.  Akin pong pinanghahawakan ang salita niya sa Mateo 6:33. Unahin po natin ang Panginoong Dios at ibibigay Niya ang mga pangangailangan natin, kaya kahit may mga pagsubok hindi po kami bumibitaw sa Kanya.

    Sa ngayon, kami po ay namumuhay na masaya kahit may mga problema.  Para sa akin, ang CCT ay ginamit ng Panginoon upang kami ay manirahan nang may masagana at maunlad na pamumuhay.  Salamat sa CCT dahil kami ay natulungan at naiahon sa kahirapan.  Sa mga P.A. at manager namin sa GenSan, salamat sa pagtityaga at pagtitiwala.

    Sa prize money na aking natanggap – una po ay ibibigay ko ang 10% para sa Panginoon, at ang pangarap ko pong magkaroon ng ‘top down’* ay matutupad na. At may pandagdag na rin po akong capital sa aking mga negosyo. Salamat Panginoon at salamat CCT.

    Ang sabi ng Bibliya sa Jeremiah 29:11: Sapagkat batid kong lubos ang mga plano ko para sa inyo, mga planong hindi ninyo ikakasama kundi para sa inyong ikabubuti, ito’y mga planong magdudulot sa inyo ng kinabukasan at punong-puno ng pag-asa.

    Dalangin ko po na pagpalain pa ng Dios ang CCT at palalaguin, para marami pa silang matulungan na katulad ko datin na naghihirap.  Sadyang napakabuti ng ating Panginoon. Hindi po matatapos ang buong araw para ihayag sa inyo ang kabutihan ng Panginoon sa aking buhay.  Siya’y pinagkakatiwalaan at puno ng pagpapala. 

    Purihin ang Panginoon at mabuhay ang CCT! 

    AB Albania sings More Than Words.

    Froi Parado gives the welcome
    remarks.
    Walt Davis of Hope International (left) and
    Jill Hall of Kiva with Partnership Development /
    Communications Department staff  (left to right)
    Edwin delos Santos, Marie dela Cruz, Keren Tandico,
    and Lala Yaun Salili, communications head and ...

    Photos by Ciara Tan


    Friday, November 25, 2011

    Nanay Andresa Receives Award


    Nanay Andresa Javines, 2011 Maunlad Awardee for Mindanao - Citi Microentrpreneur of the Year Awards, with
    (left to right) BSP Monetary Board Member Atty. Armando Suratos, GMA Network Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe
    Gozon, CCT Fatima Branch Team Servant Marifi Sayon, and CCT Savings and Credit Cooperative Corporate
    Secretary Froilan Parado.  

    Nanay Andresa Javines, a pioneer micro finance partner of the CCT General Santos branch, has received her P100,000  award as the Maunlad awardee for Mindanao in this year's Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year Awards program.    

    Along with seven other winners, she was recognized in a ceremony held at the Metropolitan Museum, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Malate, Manila.  She hopes to use the money to make partial payment on either a 'topdown' (a pick-up style multicab) or a tankal, a motorcycle with open sidecar that she can use for transporting her products between her home and the GenSan fish port. 

    Nanay Andresa, a supplier of  tuna packing material, has successfully used loans from CCT -- her initial  loan  was just P3,000 -- to grow her business and improve the quality of life of her family.  Over the past 11 years she has sent three children to college, renovated her house from a hut made of light material to a concrete bungalow,  and helped provide supplementary income to neighbors.    

    Her clients are two exporters in General Santos who send sashimi-grade tuna to the US, Canada, and Japan.  She also produces gel ice, slow-melting ice made with corn starch and salt. (Gel ice is placed inside the tuna cavity to keep it fresh longer.) 

    The Citi MOTY Awards program is a nationwide search for outstanding Filipino microentrepreneurs. It is now on its ninth run. This year, a total of 140 microentrepreneurs from all over the country were nominated to the awards by 38 micro finance organizations. Twenty-four semi-finalists were selected, from which 15 finalists were chosen, out of which eight winners were named.  

    Funded by Citi Foundation, the program is implemented in the country by Citibank Philippines together with BSP and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines, Inc. It was launched in 2002 to celebrate Citi’s centennial year in the country. 

    The Citi MOTY awards has two categories.  The Masikap awards focus on the achievements of microentrepreneurs who have set up businesses that are now providing a reliable source of income for their families. The asset size of the microenterprise in this category must be below P300,000. Under this category, one National Awardee gets P200,000, while three Island Group Awardees (one each for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) receive P100,000 each.

    The Maunlad Awards, on the other hand, recognize enterprising individuals who have grown their businesses and are now providing employment to others outside their family circle. The asset size of the microenterprise in this category must be between P300,000 to P1 million. As with the Masikap category, one National Awardee gets P200,000, while three Island Group Awardees receive P100,000 each.


    Microfinance institutions that produced winners this year are Tulay Sa Pag-unlad, First Agro-industrial Rural Bank (FAIR Bank), Rural Bank of Liloy, Inc. , Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc., Valiant Bank, and CCT Savings and Credit Cooperative. 

    Froi Parado, CCT Savings and Credit Cooperative corporate secretary, said Nanay Andresa's winning should encourage staff in the microfinance program to nominate a larger number of community partners  to the MOTY awards program next year. 

     "We do this because we think this is the right thing to do.
    This is Citibank's contribution...to nation building.
    This is part of a proactive solution to  poverty in
    the Philippines," said  Mr Sanjiv Vohra, country officer of Citibank
    Philippines, in his welcome remarks.   



    Nanay Andresa with other Maunlad Citi MOTY winners
    (front row) and members of the national selection
    committee.


    Winners all (left to right): Anastacio Postrero, seaweeds and danggit dealer;  Jocelyn de Guzman,
     maker of slippers; Corazon Bautista, sewer of  ready-to-wear clothing; Andresa Javines,
    supplier of  ready-to-use tuna packing
     material;  Danilo Castro, bottler of herbal medicine; Carina Gonato, producer of chicken lumpia;
     representative of Natividad Gabriel, fish trader; John Cabillon, fresh squid dealer.

    Part of the photo exhibit of winners

    Nanay Andresa arrives at the awarding
    ceremony venue --the Tall Galleries of the
    Metropolitan Museum,
    Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Malate, Manila. 

    with eldest daughter, Analee. 

    Analee, Nanay Andresa, Froi Parado,
    and writer Myra Gaculais del Rosario.


    Bam Aquino, master of ceremonies.