CARD MRI founder bags RVR Award
CARD MRI Founder and Chairman Emeritus Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip received the 2019 Ramon V. del Rosario Award for Nation Building on July 25, 2019 at the Manila Polo Club. The said award recognizes Dr. Alip’s more than three decades of contribution to the Philippine microfinance industry.
The Ramon V. del Rosario Award for Nation Building is the annual project of Junior Chamber International Manila, in cooperation with the Asian Institute of Management’s Center for Corporate Social Responsibility. It is also co-organized by PHINMA and De La Salle University’s Ramon del Rosario College of Business.
The RVR Award recognizes outstanding individuals who have embodied corporate social responsibility and whose work has contributed to nation-building.
Among the previous recipients of the award Diosdado “Dado” Banatao (2018), Dr. George S.K. Ty (2017), Henry Sy, Sr. (2016), Manuel V. Pangilinan (2015), Jaime
Augusto Zobel de Ayala (2014), Vicente Paterno (2013), Washington SyCip (2012), Oscar Lopez (2011), and Senen Bacani and Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting (2010),
Present in the awarding ceremony are representatives from microfinance institutions, co-awardees, as well as the family and colleagues of Dr. Alip.
Outstanding corporate citizenship
Speaking before the crowd as he accepts the award, Dr. Alip recounted how CARD’s mission of ending poverty was conceived.
“When we started our journey, we had one purpose in mind: to create a bank for and by the poor,” said Dr. Alip. The idea came to mind after witnessing firsthand the widespread poverty among landless rural workers, whom Dr. Alip referred to as “overlooked and underserved.”
“If they, the landless rural workers, were given the opportunity to gain access and control over resources, they would be able to become empowered and move out of poverty,” said Dr. Alip.
So, on December 1986, Dr. Alip, together with 15 rural development workers, established Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD). It aims to create a bank owned and managed by the poor.
Since its founding years, CARD MRI has provided services beyond microfinance. CARD MRI is also at the forefront of providing social development services to Filipino families. It has provided various seminars and livelihood trainings, scholarship programs, health services and other capacity building programs to its clients and the general public.
This initiative earned the support and recognition from different institutions in the local and international scene. Among these is the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 2008. The award was conferred in recognition of CARD MRI’s success in providing financial services to half a million Filipinos.
Key player in nation building
Meanwhile, Dr. Alip referred to the award as a challenge for the institution to continue its noble mission of ending poverty. He said it is a call to work toward the greater good – to provide development services to more Filipino families.
Dr. Alip proudly said, “We no longer work for one Filipino family; we work for the sons and daughters of our country. We do not only provide financial support for today’s needs; we help them secure their future.”
To this day, CARD MRI has served 6,361,024 poor families and has insured 23,388,972 individuals, or roughly 23.16% of the country’s population.
CARD MRI is a group of 22 institutions coexisting with each other to provide development programs. It is composed of a foundation (CARD, Inc.), three financial institutions (CARD Bank, CARD SME Bank, and CARD MRI Rizal Bank, Inc.), three microinsurance companies (CARD MBA, CaMIA, CPMI), an academic institution (CARD MRIDevelopment Institute), a business development service company (BDSFI, MLNI), a pharmacy (BotiCARD), and an IT company (CMIT), among others, with one goal of ending poverty.