Tagbilaran
City Mayor John Geesnell “Baba” Yap (right) cuts the ribbon to
formally open the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI)
Micro-finance branch in his city. With him are (left to right)
RAFI Micro-finance & Entrepreneurship executive director Ma.
Theresa Catipay and RAFI chief operating officer Dominica Chua.
The new branch is intended to help provide a stable and
rewarding livelihood to mothers in Tagbilaran. |
RAFI Micro-finance
opens five more branches to cater to more nanays
By Ramon Aboitiz Foundation
Inc.
August 23, 2015
CEBU CITY – To serve
more client nanays, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI)
Micro-finance has opened five more branches in Bohol, Cebu, and Leyte,
bringing the total number of branches to 23.
Last June 25, it inaugurated
its Tagbilaran City, Bohol branch, which is located at Door 2, Seaview
Apartment, CPG East, Bool District; followed by the opening of its
Square One Commercial Complex, Tipolo, Mandaue City, Cebu branch on
June 29; the Travelers Inn, Valladolid, Carcar City, Cebu branch on
July 2; the Proper Damolog, Sogod, Cebu branch on August 4; and the
Taft Street, Central 1, Poblacion, Palompon, Leyte branch on August
20.
“True to RAFI’s promise of
elevating lives, RAFI Micro-finance has committed to provide
responsive and value-based micro-finance services to the communities,
especially to poor entrepreneurs,” said Jonar Dorado, head of the RAFI
Micro-finance Business Development Unit, on the opening of the
Tagbilaran branch.
“We are currently serving
over 46,000 families in the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, and Leyte, and
determined to reach out to 120,000 families in the next three years,
by expanding our operations through the opening of branches within and
beyond the areas we currently cover,” he said.
RAFI Micro-finance aims to
provide capital to nanay business entrepreneurs and to those wanting
to establish their own small economic ventures as a way to empower
them as co-pillars of their respective families. Aside from loans, it
also provides micro-insurance seminars, business trainings,
consultancy, medical missions, and other services.
Hazel Guille, one of those
who attended the Carcar branch opening, was ecstatic that RAFI
Micro-finance already has a branch near her.
“Nalipay kaayo ko ug
nagpasalamat nga aduna nay branch nga duol diri sa Carcar kay sa una
muadto pa ko sa Argao branch," she said.
RAFI Micro-finance is a
program under the Micro-finance & Entrepreneurship focus area of RAFI.
It provides financial resources and know-how to women
micro-entrepreneurs to nurture financial independence and
entrepreneurship. Other focus areas of RAFI are Integrated
Development, Culture & Heritage, Leadership & Citizenship, and
Education.