June 14, 2011
Dear Friends and Partners,
Citi Philippines, the Microfinance Council of the Philippines Inc., and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas are conducting the ninth run of the Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year (MOTY) Awards, a nationwide search for outstanding Filipino microentrepreneurs. The awards program aims to elevate awareness of and provide support for microfinance by recognizing outstanding microentrepreneurs.
There are two awards categories: the Masikap Award and the Maunlad Award. The Masikap Award is open to microentrepreneurs who successfully started a business that is now a reliable source of income for the family. The Maunlad Award, on the other hand, is open to microentrepreneurs that have grown a business to a level that is now generating employment for people apart from household or family members.
A national awardee and three island group (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao) awardees will be chosen for each category. The respective prizes are as follows: PhP200,000 for the national awardees and PhP100,000 for the island group awardees. Note that in addition to the prizes for the microentrepreneurs, the loan officers of the eight awardees will be given PhP10,000 each as incentive for participation in the program. In addition to the cash prizes, this year’s awardees will also receive a 3-year life and health insurance coverage to protect them from unforeseen events that may affect their business.
The MOTY was first conducted in 2002 as part of the celebrations marking Citi’s 100 years of presence in the Philippines. Mrs. Josephine Alima, a peanut cookie manufacturer and microloan client of MABS participating bank First Isabela Cooperative (FICO) Bank – won the top award. Ms. Victoria Lim and Ms. Emilia Montinola, microloan clients of Cantilan Bank and the New Rural Bank of Victorias also won major awards that year.
Since 2002, microloan clients of rural banks have consistently made it to the winners’ list. Twenty-five (25) microloan clients of MABS participating banks have been so far named MOTY winners – eleven (11) won in the Maunlad category, ten in the Masikap category, and four were given special awards. Nine of the 25 won the major National prize – six Maunlad National winners and three Masikap winners.
This year, we are confident your microloan clients will continue this winning tradition. In line with this, the RBAP-MABS Program encourages your bank to submit nominations. You may nominate your bank’s top three microenterprise clients for each category.
You may download the attached letter, nomination forms and other documents here.
For more details, visit: http://www.rbapmabs.org/blog/2011/06/call-for-nominations-citi-microentrepreneur-of-the-year-moty-awards/.