Weaving is an essential part of the Filipino culture. Creating household items using various resources such as buri, seagrass and abaca is already attached to our culture. In fact, many Filipinos make a living out of it.
Amelia Villa is one of the local weavers in Pilar, Sorsogon. She weaves quality storage trunks and baskets in a variety of shapes and sizes using abaca, a raw material usually found in the Bicol region. Because of her excellent products, her customers are not only from nearby towns but also from Manila. Her products are also exported to China.
She first started as a contractual laborer for another business due to limited funds. But everything changed when she met a partner in business that supported her financially.
Amelia became a client of CARD Bank, Inc., a microfinance-oriented rural bank in 2010. The bank aims to develop small and medium businesses through the provision of financial and non-financial services to socio-economically challenged communities. It is one of the member-institutions of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI).
In her 12 years of being a client, CARD Bank became her pillar of strength. From her PhP5,000 starting loan, she now has an existing loan of PhP100,000 as her business production began to increase. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, CARD Bank continued to support her business through the declaration of loan moratoriums and implementation of a loan reconstruction program.
The positive change that CARD Bank brought into her life also rippled to other women in her community. Through her business, she generated employment for them paving the way for an augmented family income. Amelia believes that women empowerment can be a key to a better life.
As of April 2022, CARD Bank has more than 3,801,907 clients in its 933 offices nationwide. To know more about CARD Bank, Inc. visit the Facebook page @CARDBankOfficial.
