Category: Client Story

“Magtrabaho ka lang…Nakikita naman ng Panginoon kung gusto mong umangat sa buhay.” (“Keep working…the Lord sees your desire for a better life.”) – Nanay Gemma Gemma M. Austria has been a member of the TSPI Maunland Program since 2016. She took out a P100, 000 loan from the TSPI Lingayen Branch, and used it as additional capital for her sawali manufacturing/dealership business. Nanay gemma learned the trade at a young age, her parents being employed in a sawali factory. She … Continue reading “HINDI NAGKAMALI SA SAWALI”

“Dapat unahin si Lord at gagawa ka din, mag-ipon para sa pangarap.” (“God should be first and you should also do your part, save for your dream”) – Tatay Nebu Nibukadrizad R. Gutierrez, or Tatay Nebu, 63, is a microentrepreneur from Candelaria, Quezon, joined the TSPI Kabuhayan Program (TKP) group lending program in 2005. Seven years later, he moved up to TSPI Maunlad (individual lending) Program. Among Gutierrez’s fondest childhood memories were tagging along with his parents on their rounds … Continue reading “MATAMIS NA PAGPAPALA MULA SA AMPALAYA”

In Damarinas Cavite, scraps of fabric have spawned communities of hardworking rag makers and families with added income. At the helm of this movement is husband-and-wife team Ranie and Haydee Villaruz, who found a fortune in basahang bilog (round rags). In May 2016, TSPI’s Enterprise Development Services (EDS) was thinking up new community-driven projects when the idea of affordable, easy-to-produce rags from factories’ scrap materials came into the picture. “We wanted something productive for our nanays (mothers) and their families — something that … Continue reading “FROM RAGS TO RICHES”

The serene waters of Tayabas Bay would sometimes peek in between the coconut trees dotting the horizon in Catanauan, Quezon. A six-hour drive from Manila, the first-class municipality stands on gently rolling hills, so fertile that almost every household depends on the land for sustenance, from copra production to rice farming. But for farmer Tatay Fortunato Mendoza, a TSPI Programang Pang-agrikultura (TPP) client since 2012, harnessing the richness of the soil is far from easy.  For one, his community’s experience … Continue reading “EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES”

We usually have a stereotype of a typical small town Filipino farmer—hardworking, skillful, and yet poor.  He tills the soil, sown the seeds of food staples, and provides not only for his family but for a hungry nation in need of sustenance.  And the cycle goes on, leaving the small farmer, content with just providing enough food for his family but not exactly earning the income required to uplift his way of living. What he doesn’t realize is that he … Continue reading “THE FARMER IS A BUSINESSMAN”

2008 is a year that Nanay Annabel “Mayeth” Bonsol would rather forget.  Her husband, a barangay councilor, was fatally shot after a political altercation, and her childhood home in Bauan, Batangas was foreclosed by the bank. Up until then, she has had modest success in her ecobag and rug business, which she started in 1999 with a loan from TSPI and a rented sewing machine.  But the twin tragedies drained her resources, and the stress from the ordeal weakened her … Continue reading “WHEN HAPPINESS FINDS YOU”

TATAY DANILO Flores of Valencia, Bukidnon barely finished high school and had no land of his own to till.  But because he was born to farming parents and taught the ways of the land at a young age of 12, there was no way he can escape his fate, which turned out to be sweet. Since 2007, Tatay Danilo has been harvesting an average of 350 cavans of rice from the three hectares he maintained as a tenant.  Eventually, he … Continue reading “FROM FARMER TO LANDOWNER”

Before engaging in slipper manufacturing, Nanay Jocelyn and her husband worked in a footwear factory. Determined to earn more for their family, the couple started their slipper manufacturing business in 2005. According to Nanay Jocelyn, she realized that it was a good business choice as the industry was growing in their locality. At the start of the enterprise, Nanay Jocelyn had a weekly sales of Php24,000 with a P2,000 net income. They didn’t have workers then. But as the business grew, the demand … Continue reading “STEP-IN TO SUCCESS”