Presentations and materials can be accessed by clicking the session title or speaker's name.
Plenary Session One
Poverty Situation in the Philippines
Poverty remains a major development challenge in the Philippines – a significant proportion of population has remained poor over the past two decades. Who are the poor? Where are they located? What is the nature of poverty in the Philippines? This session will refresh MFIs and other stakeholders on some poverty-related statistics and remind them as well that in a country where poverty remains pervasive, microfinance should remain all the more steadfast and robust – responsible, pro-poor, and client-focused.
Plenary Session One
Poverty Situation in the Philippines
Poverty remains a major development challenge in the Philippines – a significant proportion of population has remained poor over the past two decades. Who are the poor? Where are they located? What is the nature of poverty in the Philippines? This session will refresh MFIs and other stakeholders on some poverty-related statistics and remind them as well that in a country where poverty remains pervasive, microfinance should remain all the more steadfast and robust – responsible, pro-poor, and client-focused.
Ms.
Jessamyn O. Encarnacion, Director, Social Statistics Office, National Statistical Coordination Board
MCPI, Grameen Foundation, Oikocredit, and the Mindanao Microfinance Council collaborated in a study that sought to examine the different aspects of poverty outreach using the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) data gathered from selected MFIs in the Philippines. The study looked into the three aspects of poverty outreach – concentration (percentage of clients that are poor), scale (number of poor clients), and penetration(percentage of poor households in an area that are reached). This session will present findings and highlights from the study and will involve a panel discussion among the different MFIs that took part in the study.
Presenter:
Mr. Christopher A. Tan, Regional Director, East and Southeast Asia,
Grameen Foundation
Panelists:
Ms.
Mila M. Bunker, President,
Ahon Sa Hirap, Inc.
Mr.
Rolando B. Victoria, Executive Director, Alalay Sa Kaunlaran, Inc.
Mr.
Gilbert S. Maramba, Research
Manager, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc.
Facilitator:Mr. Cristopher G. Lomboy
Facilitator:Mr. Cristopher G. Lomboy
Plenary Session Two
This session is a
presentation of the final results of a research on Multiple Borrowing in
Microfinance – an undertaking by the Asian Institute of Management, Oikocredit,
Grameen Foundation, and MCPI. This research attempts to determine the
incidence of multiple borrowing in a selected community – the Commonwealth
area in Quezon City – where multiple borrowing is widely believed to take
place. Based on consolidated branch client data from eight participating MFIs
that serve households in this locality, a profile of multiple borrowers was
established and the broad correlation between multiple borrowing and
delinquency was assessed.
Facilitator:
Dr. Ma. Piedad S. Geron
Value Chain Finance (Venue:
Le Salon I)
Value chain finance, defined as financial
products and services that flow to any point in a value chain in order to
increase its growth and competitiveness, is becoming an attractive model of
spreading the risks in rural finance. This session will be a venue to enhance
awareness on models and approaches for using the resources and linkages of
the value chain to increase financial service provision to rural producers
and traders.
Ms. Jinky S. Flores, General Manager, Gata Daku Multi-Purpose Cooperative
Ms. Jinky S. Flores, General Manager, Gata Daku Multi-Purpose Cooperative
Mr. Edgardo Luzano, Development Assistance Department Manager,Land Bank of the Philippines
Mr. Gavin Bunker,President, INSOL Development Foundation, Inc.
Facilitator: Ms. Jesila M. Ledesma
Savings Products for
Microfinance (Venue: Le Salon II)
Historically, microfinance institutions have focused primarily on credit services. Today, there is growing recognition that low-income
households need and use a variety of financial services which include
savings. In this session, BPI Globe BanKO and Cantilan Bank will discuss the
features of their microsavings products, the importance of providing
microsavings to low-income households, and the challenges they encountered in
providing this service to their clients.
Ms. Teresita
B. Tan, President, BPI Globe BanKO
Brig. Gen.
Charles Y. Hotchkiss, Executive Vice President, Cantilan Bank,
Inc.
Facilitator: Ms. Meliza H. Agabin
Financial Education (Venue:
Ballroom)
This session focuses on microfinance
practitioners’ efforts in promoting financial education that increase
clients’ awareness and understanding of the right values toward their
finances by gaining the basic knowledge and skills in managing savings,
income, expenses, investments, and being conscious of risks that will help them
avoid overindebtedness. Financial well-being and ultimately, a better quality
of life for the client and his/her family are the results the sector hopes to
achieve in providing non-financial services such as financial education.
Mr. Manuel L.
Margate, Manager, Client Services Department, Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc.
Dr. Enrique L.Navarro, Senior Advisor, CARD MRI Development Institute
Facilitator: Mr. Cristopher G. Lomboy
Ugnayan: Networking Session (Venue:
Ballroom)
Presenters:
Ms. Geraldine Desiderio-Garcia, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Country Bankers Insurance Corporation
Ms. Maud Savary-Mornet, Regional Manager – East and Southeast Asia, responsAbility
Ms. Maud Savary-Mornet, Regional Manager – East and Southeast Asia, responsAbility
Creating an Enabling Environment for Client-Centered Microfinance
Representatives
from the government and the investor community will discuss the importance of
bringing back the focus on clients in the future of microfinance. Speakers from
the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas,
Department of Finance, and BlueOrchard Finance will share the specific roles
that government and investors play in promoting client-centered microfinance.
Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran, Department of Finance
Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr., Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas
Ms. Miranda Phua, Investment Analyst – Asia, Blue Orchard Finance S.A.
Ms. Miranda Phua, Investment Analyst – Asia, Blue Orchard Finance S.A.
Facilitator: Mr. Danilo A. Songco
Initial Results from the National Microfinance Client Mapping Initiative
This session is a presentation of the initial results of the National Microfinance Client Mapping Initiative which is an effort of fifteen consortium members consisting of networks, wholesalers, and funders. This research project aims to depict the picture of the state of saturation of microfinance services in the Philippines. The results will be presented in maps, which shall reflect barangay, municipal and provincial outreach levels of saturation that can be used by MFIs and wholesalers in deciding where else to expand and who else to serve.
Ms. Rosa Marie Rivera, Consultant, CORDAID
Facilitator: Ms. Lalaine M. Joyas
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (Venue:
Le Salon I)
The Philippines ranks third in terms of
countries with the highest disaster risk, according to the 2011 Word Risk Report published by the
Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft (Alliance
Development Works). Scientists have long pointed out that the geographic
location of the Philippines makes it vulnerable to natural hazards such as
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and typhoons. And almost by default, the
poor suffer more physical and economic losses than
the rest of the population because they are the ones located in disaster-prone
and/or hazardous ecosystems. How could
MFIs take a more pro-active approach to disaster mitigation? What are the
opportunities for collaboration between MFIs and disaster management
organizations with respect to disaster preparedness, disaster response,
relief, rehabilitation, mitigation and adaptation?
Mr. Rustico Biñas, Global Advisor on CMDRR, CORDAID
Ms.Mila M. Bunker, President, Ahon Sa Hirap, Inc.
Facilitator: Ms. Rosa Marie Rivera
Universal Standards for Social Performance Management
After years of helping the industry define “social performance” and identify indicators for SP measurement and reporting, the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF), recently launched the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management Standards for microfinance. These Standards will have different uses for different stakeholder groups. Microfinance institutions will find them helpful in examining and setting expectations for social performance and reporting for their own institution; evaluate their performance against and self-regulate using these benchmarks.
Ms. Laura Foose, Director, Social Performance Task Force
Universal Standards for Social Performance Management
After years of helping the industry define “social performance” and identify indicators for SP measurement and reporting, the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF), recently launched the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management Standards for microfinance. These Standards will have different uses for different stakeholder groups. Microfinance institutions will find them helpful in examining and setting expectations for social performance and reporting for their own institution; evaluate their performance against and self-regulate using these benchmarks.
Ms. Laura Foose, Director, Social Performance Task Force
In a competitive industry like microfinance,over-indebtedness is an issue that everyone is still trying to understand and deal with. It is an issue that causes significant harm to both clients and MFIs, and has fundamentally stirred the industry. As microfinance providers, how can we prevent clients from becoming over-indebted? How can we ensure that systems support the prevention of over-indebtedness? This session will look into existing practices of three institutions that help prevent over-indebtedness of their microfinance clients.
Mr.Rolando B. Victoria, Executive
Director, Alalay Sa Kaunlaran, Inc.
Ms.Maria Anna dR. Ignacio, Executive
Director, Kasagana-ka Development Center
Ms.
Judylyn F. Joven, Chief
Operating Officer, Kasagana-ka Development Center
Facilitator: Ms. Noemi A. Bonaobra
As client protection has become increasingly relevant in microfinance, initiatives that support this principle are being put in place. This session puts the spotlight on pricing transparency and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Circular No. 755. The Circular encourages credit-granting facilities including NGOs engaged in microfinance to the register its lending activity with the BSP, disclose the true price of a loan to a client using the Effective Interest Rate (EIR), and the use of the declining balance in the manner of computing interest.
Deputy
Director Gerardo A. Butardo, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Facilitator: Ms. Lalaine M. Joyas
