It takes a lot of courage to enter the world of entrepreneurship—no matter how big or small the venture is. Such courage is not lost on the Citi Foundation who, together with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Microfinance Council of the Philippines, created the Citi Microentrepreneur Awards (CMA) to honour courageous entrepreneurs.

The CMA was launched in 2002, on the centennial celebration of Citi Philippines. Since then, year after year, microentrepreneurs in varying fields are carefully chosen as recipients. They are given monetary grants as well as other means of support to further their respective business ventures. To date, the CMA has awarded over 100 microentrepreneurs, whose businesses have grown stronger if not expanded, and whose lives have been forever changed. In this advocacy, the CMA aims to raise awareness on the importance of microentrepreneurship and microfinance, and to support the empowerment of low-income individuals.

The selection is a meticulous process. It begins with the nominations submitted by microfinance institutions, cooperatives, rural banks, and other related networks. The nominees are narrowed down to eight microentrepreneur winners, coming from each of the three regions of the Philippines. Finally, an overall winner is selected.

(Back row) Jordan Inalisan, Aftab Ahmed, Amando Tetangco Jnr, Marixi Rufino-Prieto, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Marines Takingan, (front row) Laarni Ditablan, Maternidad Salili, Lydia Malot, Ester Shiela Vitto, Victoria Bantilan

For 2016, the awarding panel added another category: young entrepreneurs. Special awards are also given, and just last year, a total of seven individuals were declared winners, two of whom came back for the opening ceremony of the nominations for the 2016 CMA. Clearly this awards body is not wanting in generosity; and clearer still, it is not lacking in amazing entrepreneurs to honour.

Footsteps in the Sand

Last year’s Luzon awardee, Shiela Vitto, was an ordinary employee whose salary was not enough to even help fund her own wedding. So she took over Bahag Footwear, her brother’s shoemaking business, and made it as her primary sour ce of income. It was not smooth-sailing at the start, but with hard work and perseverance, Vitto was able to pull through. Citi Foundation and its partners helped her business expand.

“The CMA helped a lot in so many ways,” said Vitto. “My products got nationwide exposure when CMA helped facilitate Bahag Footwear to be featured in the media as well as in advertisements. I feel the happiest when people send me messages on how I have inspired them to start their own businesses because they saw my video through CMA’s YouTube channel.”

2015 CMA Luzon Awardee Ester Shiela Vitto

Visayas awardee Jordan “Danny” Inalisan started his business when he g ot laid off at a pastillas (milk-based local delicacy) company. Wanting to get his family out of poverty, he started his own pastillas business, using Php1,000 as capital, and opened Danny’s Special Pastillas and Delicacies. Like Vitto, nothing came easy for Inalisan. Typhoon Yolanda tested his faith—it took everything away, and he had to start all over from scratch. Despite the obstacles, he refused to give up and soldiered on, leading him to become one of last year’s awardees.

“I’m very grateful to CMA. Not only did they give us a cash prize, but they managed to connect us [with agencies],” said Inalisan. “We were given priority treatment by the Department of Trade and Industry with everything that had to do with business management and product packaging. They also gave us a chance to attend seminars, that taught me a lot.” With the success of this delicacy business, he then mustered the courage to successfully expand to another business, Danny’s Eatery.

Giving Back

Citi Foundation extends its hand to hardworking Filipino microentrepreneurs who have served—and are continuing to serve—as inspirations to more people who want to try their hand at their chosen business ventures. As the largest and longest-running Citi branded programme, the foundation and its partners aspire to help more individuals this year through the CMA. For any and all entrepreneurs who show industry, perseverance, and a desire to succeed, CMA will always be their faithful friend and staunch supporter.