MANILA, Philippines—No business is too small to lift the poor out of poverty, inspire the community and become diversified in a challenging environment, as shown by the top winners of the 2008 Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year Awards (MOTY).

Estela Lagunzad of Tacloban City started as a peddler of Avon, Tupperware and Natasha products to augment a meager household income. She now owns a retail store and an eatery, produces nursing caps and homemade lamps.

On top of that, she also manages a popular kid’s rock band and gets teary-eyed when the band performs.

Anunciacion “Ciony” Santillan, on the other hand, was a sidewalk vendor who thrived to become a retail trader of clothes, plasticware and other general merchandise. She later diversified into hog-raising.

Lagunzad and Santillan are this year’s national winners of MOTY, which primarily aims to raise awareness of and provide support for microfinance by recognizing outstanding microentrepreneurs. The program is now on its sixth run in the Philippines.

Microfinance is the provision of small, uncollateralized loans—typically ranging from P5,000 to P150,000—to the poor to help them start their own businesses.

“Through this program, we are able to actively share the success stories of our outstanding microentrepreneurs, promote their successes to a much wider community base and, most importantly, create role models that will inspire and encourage others to similarly grow their microenterprises and serve as catalysts to invigorate their own communities,” Citi country officer Sanjiv Vohra said during the award ceremonies at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Wednesday.

‘Masikap’ and ‘Maunlad’

Lagunzad bagged first place in the “Masikap” category, which is for microentrepreneurs who successfully started a business that is now a reliable source of income for the family.

Santillan won the top prize in the “Maunlad” category, which is for those who have grown a business that is now generating employment for people apart from household or family members.

Business assets of awardees should be no greater than P300,000 for the Masikap category and P1 million for the Maunlad category. The two national winners each won a cash prize of P150,000.

Lagunzad, wife of a security guard, was driven into starting a business to make both ends meet. In 2004, she got a P15,000 loan from the Rural Bank of Dulag, and opened a small eatery near a hospital. By 2007, she had become a manufacturer of nursing caps and lamps.

Her business now makes an annual profit of about P800,000. She employs 25 people within her community.

Loans worth P6.5 billion

Santillan was part of the underground economy until she was introduced to FAIR Bank, where she obtained a P15,000 loan to fund the trading of dry goods. Her “Aubrey General Merchandise” is now registered at the Department of Trade and Industry and employs the services of a bookkeeper monthly to handle her finances and tax payments.

With the success of her retail enterprise, which has a sales turnover of about P100,000 a week (sometimes daily during the Christmas season), she was able to start a hog-raising business. She now employs nine people.

As of end of June, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said there were 8,292 microfinance borrowers across the country who had accessed P6.5 billion worth of loans from 230 banks. Tetangco said these microfinance borrowers had also contributed to the build-up of national savings with nearly P2 billion in deposits accumulated in banks.

The BSP has been a staunch advocate of microfinance as an effective means of emancipating people from poverty.

Exceptional individuals

Tetangco said the MOTY program had “brought to fore stories of exceptional individuals who have shown how access to microfinance services, coupled with hard work, ingenuity and perseverance can empower them to break out from poverty and to build a better life for themselves and their families.”

Tetangco said the BSP won’t cease to pursue its reform agenda for stronger banks in the microfinance sector.

“This is the rationale behind our regulations to ensure adherence to the principles of good governance, risk management and internal control systems, as well as proper accounting and performance standards,” he said.

The awards program is funded by Citi Foundation and implemented by Citi Philippines, in partnership with the Microfinance Council of the Philippines and the BSP.

Vohra and Tetangco both chair the panel of judges. Other panel members are: Tessie Sy-Coson of the SM group, Fernando Zobel de Ayala of the Ayala group, Jose Concepcion III of the RFM Group, former Monetary Board member Antonino Alindogan Jr., Philippine Daily Inquirer chair Marixi Rufino Prieto, GMA Network chair Felipe Gozon and Ateneo de Manila University professor Darwin Yu.

They also won

A special citation for “exploring new opportunities despite a rare illness” was given to Elino Andres, who operates a store on wheels that distributes grocery items and eggs to various sari-sari stores in Nasugbu, Batangas. A former overseas worker, he is also into artificial insemination of pigs, G-cash settlement and sale of memorial plans.

Zenaida Guray, a hog-raiser from Maria Aurora, Aurora, was cited as “the most inspiring awardee for turning extreme hardship to productivity.”

Julito Malinao of Bogo City, Cebu, was cited as “Model OFW” for establishing an enterprise using skills honed as an overseas worker. Formerly based in Saudi Arabia and London, Julito manages a beauty salon and spa. His salon is now the biggest and most popular in Bogo.

Regional winners

MOTY awards were also given to each region for each category. In the Masikap category, the winners were Cerilo Delfin (Luzon), a maker of “puto” and “kutsinta” from Alicia, Isabela; Cicilia Lorenzo (Visayas), the biggest fish trader in Malalison Island in Culasi, Antique; and Elibel Bautista (Mindanao) from Zamboanga City who is engaged in the crab-fattening and crab-buying business.

In the Maunlad category, the regional winners were Maricel Evangelista (Luzon), a furniture maker and canteen owner in Los Baños, Laguna; Susana Alivio (Visayas), a hog-raiser and distributor of feeds in Consolacion, Cebu; and Prescilda Elnas (Mindanao), a maker of ice candies and rice cakes, who also owns a burger stand and is a retailer of electronic load, from Zamboanga City.