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46th RBAP Charter Anniversary Symposium |
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Opening Remarks of the President
Mr. Daniel R. Arcenas Welcome Fellow Rural Bankers to our 46th Charter Anniversary Symposium. On behalf of my fellow directors, officers and the staff of our association and foundation, we thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to make this a successful event. Many have worked hard to make this national symposium as relevant as possible to out members. Some have begun to notice a few changes. More communication exchanges with our federations. A more updated look in our souvenir program handouts. If you passed by the RBAP offices, there is now an area specifically for members and their use. Starting tomorrow, Chit and Ellen will be distributing the Clean Notes Posters and Teller Guides which have been printed out by the BSP as a result of our ongoing campaign to disseminate Gov. Buenaventura and BSP’s Clean Notes Policy throughout the country. We will be revealing more of these changes tomorrow during the RBAP updates. Some tidbits of other exciting news:
We would like the Federation and Confederation Presidents to attend the industry development workshops or at least 1 officer representative from each Federation/Confederation. The rest of our membership should not worry about not being able to attend this set of workshop because the output of the industry development workshop will be reported tomorrow during the plenary session. Our staff would probably want me to point out that raffle draws have been strategically scheduled throughout the symposium. After lunch, after the presentation by the Country Bankers Insurance Companies, this evening during the Fellowship Night, tomorrow morning at 8:30 am and at the end of the symposium. Back to the theme of our 45th Charter Anniversary Symposium: “Rural Banks: The Ideal Partners for Countryside Development”. For us in the industry, for partners like Land Bank, PDIC and BSP this is a well-known fact. But this is a fact that we ourselves have not fully explored and barely realized. We have only just started to realize what can be our full potential as the ideal COMMUNITY BANK; and the institution best positioned to intermediate between rural economies and the national economy; between government and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Thus it is the goal of RBAP to enable the rural banking system to realize its full potential. What is more, the rest of the country knows little about the great contribution of our system and its strategic role in the national economy. Therefore, a goal of the RBAP is make RBAP- known the great stories of rural banking which we have successfully done in the last 2 months with several small and large articles in the Philippine Star and the Business World. An Established National Network for the Countryside To date, the Rural Banking System comprises about a quarter of the physical network of the Philippine banking system primarily wrapping the countryside. The total number of rural banks (772) is 18 times that of the 42 commercial banks and eight times that of the 93 thrift banks. It is composed of 772 banks with 1,900 branches which covers 76% of all cities and towns of Luzon, 47% of Visayas, 43% of Mindanao and 55% of the entire country. We cover 71 out of 85 cities and 883 out of the 1,527 towns, including 607 which are 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th class municipalities. When one talks of the countryside, rural banking is at the very forefront. This established national network of the rural banking system offers immediate access to the countryside. It is a network that is hard to match in terms of reach and that is expensive to duplicate if anyone opted to do it again. This existing network proved to be effective in the delivery of priority financing programs of the Government particularly to the agricultural sector. It is an existing major provider of SME loans in the towns and cities. And it is building up to be the major delivery platform for microfinance. It has the capability to deliver more Government financial and non-financial services in rural areas. Ultimately, the rural banking system is the most ideally positioned to intermediate between the local economies and the national economy. Pillars of the Local Economies As of June 30, 2003, rural banks contribute P78.8 billion out of the total P3,529 billion of the Philippine banking system, a mere 2% but directed towards the sector of the society that needs the financial services the most- the small farmers, the small merchants and entrepreneurs and the underprivileged. Rural banks currently service 4.8 million depositors with P54.6 billion in deposits which are virtually reinvested in the local communities as loans. Rural banks have allocated most of their generated resources to lending 59.5% as against 49.1% of commercial banks and 49.8% of the entire banking system. Primarily, these rural banks have lent out P51.6 billion pesos to agriculture and to micro, small and medium enterprises both in the cities and towns. These economic activities to which rural banks channeled their resources clearly indicate where their heart is. It is worth noting that 41.9% went to agriculture compared with only 4.3% of the commercial banks and 5.3% of the Philippine banking system while small retailers and traders received 20.2% of the loanable funds of the rural banking system. Indeed, the rural banks are fast becoming the major delivery platform for microfinance loans as a result of the partnership between the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines and USAID. Gearing Up to Microfinance The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has declared microfinance as its flagship program for poverty alleviation. It is encouraging banks to lend to the marginalized sector to answer the demand for financial services among the poor. The rural banking industry has been responding to this call. Prior to the recognition of microfinance in the General Banking Law of 2000, rural banks have been into microfinancing. The rural banks have been working with the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) Program to develop the capability to profitably provide financial services, both loan and deposit services, to the microenterprise sector. MABS, a USAID-financed effort jointly implemented by the RBAP with oversight provided by the Office of the President, is one of the principal elements of USAID-Philippines’ efforts to accelerate economic growth through expanded participation of lower income groups in productive activities. From October 1998 to June 30, 2003, participating rural banks under the MABS program have disbursed over 259,679 loans totaling more than P2.57 billion to more than 90,000 micro-entrepreneurs. Since the program began, micro deposit balances of MABS partner banks have increased by P197.47 million to a total of P527 million. The number of microdeposits likewise increased by 161,534 to a total of 511,509. In addition, forty-eight (48) rural banks have participated in the microfinance program of the Peoples Credit and Finance Corporation (PCFC), a government organization tasked to provide microfinance services to marginalized sectors of society under the umbrella of the National Anti-Poverty Commission. Rural banks constitute 26% of the total conduits of PCFC, with outstanding microfinance loans of P914 million. The inherent advantage of the rural banking system as an established nationwide network for the countryside, its steadfast support to micro, small and medium enterprises and its gearing up to microfinance have undoubtedly proven the capability of the industry. Thus, the Rural Banking System is the Ideal Partner for Countryside Development as it moves to a new age in rural banking system. An age when the rural becomes the ultimate community bank. The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines promises to work together with its confederations, federations and member banks to unleash the full potential of the rural banking system in order to accelerate the development in the countryside. Welcome to a new age in rural banking. home | features |
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Circular Letters/Memoranda |
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Speeches/ Presentations |
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Photo Gallery |
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The 2008 RBAP Charter Symposium |
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2008 CFI Awards |
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Rural Banking Week Celebration Golf Tournament |
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Client Satisfaction Survey for Licensing Management System of the Supervision and Examination Sector |
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Financial Reporting Package 2008 |
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BSP releases regulations on liquidity, market risk weighting |
