Welcoming the Newest Partners of MCPI

Paglaum MPC, Rural Bank of Roxas and FicoBank

The Microfinance Council of the Philippines warmly welcomes its newest regular members: the Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative, the Rural Bank of Pres. M.A. Roxas (ZN), Inc. and the First Isabela Coop Bank, Inc. The three institutions were formally accepted and declared as MCPI members in the 2009 Annual General Meeting.

Paglaum MPC is the second cooperative to be part of the network. It was established in 1992 as a livelihood arm of the Paglaum Community Development Foundation, Inc. (PCDFI), a child-centered, community-oriented organization. Paglaum MPC began as a micro-enterprise to assist the mothers of the poor children in the community of Plaridel, Misamis Oriental. From palay trading, the cooperative has ventured into a host of economic endeavors, encouraging the poorest in the locality to participate in different gainful activities. Presently, Paglaum MPC has an outreach of 18, 000, employee roster of 184 and Php 170 million in assets. Mr. Gadwin Handumon is its General Manager.

The Rural Bank of Roxas (RB Roxas) in Dipolog City was established in 2000 as a local response to the call for poverty alleviation in the country. As a microfinance program, it was organized to help the poor access credit and to promote savings awareness among people with meager resources. RB Roxas is the 2005 recipient of the Unwavering Commitment to the Microfinance Cause Award from the People’s Credit and Finance Corporation (PCFC). The bank was hailed for its effort to reach clients in the remote areas in the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and Misamis Occidental. Its present outreach covers 31 municipalities and it has almost 6,000 active clients. RB Roxas has 52 personnel spread in its six (6) branches. Its General Manager is Ms. Rosa Ruales Lim.

First Isabela Cooperative Bank, Inc., a pioneer in the field of cooperative banking, was established in the province of Isabela in 1976. To date, its operation spans four (4) provinces and nine (9) branches in the northernmost region of the Philippines. FICOBank’s microfinance program started since 1998 and has since grown to reach more than 1,000 active micro-borrowers with a loan portfolio of over Php30 million. FICOBank is a recipient of numerous awards: EAGLE Achiever in Microfinance Performance (USAID-MABS and RBAP); Outstanding Cooperative Bank in the Philippines, 1995 to 2007 (Landbank Gawad Pitak Annual Award) and Number One in Financial Performance Award (Bangkoop). FICOBank takes pride in having produced the Citi-Microentrepreneur of the Year Awardees in 2002 and 2007. Mr. Herminio Ocampo is the president and CEO of FICOBank.