CHAIRPERSON
Mr. Gilbert Stephan S. Maramba
Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc.
Gilbert “Gomby” Stephan S. Maramba is currently the Assistant Director for Operations and Product Development of NWTF. He has been with the organization for almost 21 years. He is also currently a board member of the Microfinance Data Sharing Credit Bureau and Restart Micro-Enterprise Inc.
Gomby earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics at the University of the Philippines Visayas.
VICE CHAIRPERSON
Ms. Ma. Rosario Apostol
Community Economic Ventures, Inc.
Maros is the Executive Director of CEVI. She has spent more than 30 years in development work as a microfinance practitioner and technical advisor in the field of operations, financial management, monitoring and evaluation, marketing research, new product development, resource fund mobilization, impact assessment, system audit, and transformation from a project to a regulated MFI institution. She also has more than 12 years in international development work experience in development finance, rural development, capacity building and post conflict management.
Maros’ microfinance competency has been honed and developed by working and exposure in different countries such as the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Uganda, Senegal, Fiji and Samoa
Maros attended the Wharton – Aresty Institute of Executive Education in Advanced Leadership. She received her MBA in Marketing Research from De la Salle University – Graduate School of Business and Economics and finished her bachelor’s degree in agriculture at the University of the Philippines at Los Banos.
CORPORATE SECRETARY
Ms. Mercedes R. Abad
Ahon Sa Hirap, Inc. (A Microfinance NGO)
Mercedes R. Abad, a 1963 B.S. Chemical Engineering and 1983 MBA graduate from the University of the Philippines started her professional life as a technical researcher in the Metallurgical Advisory Group of the D. Macapagal administration. Taking a change in career, she moved to Procter and Gamble where she learned the ABC’s of market research. A research practitioner for 42 years, she set-up and managed two major research companies: CONSUMER PULSE, (now AC NIELSEN), and TRENDS which was bought by TNS (now Kantar); was co-founder of Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia. As a researcher, her clientele belonged to the top 50 corporations. After 42 years of being a research practitioner, Mrs. Abad retired in December 2007 as President and Managing Director of TNS.
Mercy is currently President of Ahon sa Hirap, Inc. a microfinance NGO, committed to the social development of the dispossessed in poor communities. Her other advocacies are active-nonviolence (AKKAPKA), and adoption of unwanted children (Kaisahang Buhay Foundation). She is married to Gémino (“Jimmy”) Abad with whom she has five children, one of whom has gone ahead to heaven.
TREASURER
Ms. Jane Manucdoc
ASKI Microfinance
Jane Manucdoc is currently serving as the Executive Director of Alalay Sa Kaunlaran Microfinance Social Development Inc., President of the Microfinance Information Data Sharing Inc. (MiDAS), and Treasurer of the Microfinance Council of the Philippines.
She is an experienced microfinance practitioner in the Philippines with a demonstrated history in working with development organizations dealing with microloans, micro insurance, capacity building programs, and social impact initiatives.
INTERNAL AUDITOR
Fr. Rex Paul Arjona
SEDP-Simbag sa Pag-asenso, Inc.
MEMBERS
Mr. Ritzie Mar Apaitan
Taytay Sa Kauswagan, Inc.
Ritzie Mar B. Apaitan joined TSKI or Taytay sa Kauswagan, Inc. (A Microfinance NGO) in 1997 as a Project Officer. His many years of experience in TSKI had afforded him extensive expertise in the field of microfinance including lending methodologies, product development, financial and operations management. He is currently holding a post as Chief Operating Officer of TSKI.
He has been an active member of the Microfinance Data Sharing Inc. (MiDas, Inc.) Technical Working Group by which he served as Chairman from 2016 until 2020. He has attended various national and international conferences in leadership and microfinance in Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Cambodia. He has also been a recipient of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Scholarship Program at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India in year 2017.
Mr. Apaitan earned his Baccalaureate Degree on AB Philosophy at the University of San Carlos Cebu City. He finished his Master’s Degree in Business Administration at Philippine Christian University Manila, and is currently doing his PhD in Education with concentration in Psychology and Guidance at the West Visayas State University in Iloilo City.
Mr. Rene E. Cristobal
Tulay Sa Pag-unlad, Inc.
Mr. Cristobal is the President of Tulay sa Pag-Unlad, Inc. (A Microfinance NGO). and has been serving the organization since October 2000. He is also a Member of the TSPI Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. Board of Trustees, and a Member of the Employer’s Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP).
He is the Founder and Chairman of several companies such as Board of DCL Group of Companies, established since 1978, which provides overseas employment to Filipino professionals, technicians, and maritime officers and crew members in both land based and sea based sectors and Association of Professionalism in Overseas Employment (ASPROE), composed of non-fee charging and ethical recruitment agencies licensed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) among many others.
He is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of several profit and nonprofit organizations in agriculture & natural farming; innovative construction materials; property development; publishing & social media; intellectual property & copyrights; awareness & prevention of drug addictions; training of addiction counselors; and scholarship programs in public high school. He is also an advocate for the development of bamboo plantation and processed products such as charcoal and activated carbon and construction materials. His companies have received awards from the POEA, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Office of the President, and elevated to the “Hall of Fame”. Mr. Cristobal attained a BBA degree (Cum Laude) in the University of the East in 1955, Master of Arts in Economics (candidate) from the same university, and a graduate of the Second Advanced Management Program in the Far East conducted by the Harvard University Graduate School of Business in 1957, Baguio City.
Mr. Dexter V. Flores
Kabuhayan sa Ganap na Kasarinlan Credit & Savings Cooperative
Dexter Flores is a graduate of the University of Makati with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Microfinance and is currently taking up his Masters in Organization Development at the Southeast Asia Interdisciplinary Development Institute (SAIDI).
He is the General Manager of Kabuhayan sa Ganap na Kasarinlan Credit and Savings Cooperative or more commonly known as K-COOP from April 2021 to present.
He devoted most of his career in serving the urban poor communities in NCR, Region 3, and Region 4A. His humble beginnings in the communities began with the Foundation for Development Alternatives (FDA) back in 2001 as a Socio-Economic Officer. What started as a program in FDA eventually became Kasagana-ka Microfinance Institution (later named as Kasagana-ka Development Center, Inc.), a microfinance NGO providing financial services to the urban poor communities. He rose from the ranks. From being a Socio-Economic Officer to a Branch Manager, and to an Area Manager.
Mr. Arnold M. Parcutilo
Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative
Arnold M. Parcutilo, functions as a very important person of Paglaum both for the Foundation and the Cooperative. He is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Community Development where he was hired as a Livelihood Coordinator at Paglaum Community Development Foundation Inc. (PCDFI).
In 1998, he moved to Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative as Loan Officer and was promoted to Branch Manager in Paglaum Oroquieta Branch. He is a capable, good-hearted, kind person, with exuberating confidence and a remarkable sense of professionalism for him to be promoted to Operations Manager for Savings and Credit for 16 years. In July 2021, he was appointed by the Board of Directors as OIC General Manager.
He is always a keen observer in managing the coop operations. Branch operations performance is assessed by him ultimately and he helps to develop working capability leading to significant progress. In addition, he plays a pivotal role in ensuring the continuous growth and success of the cooperative. He has honed himself with mini-MBA courses from the Institutional Business Management Institute and earned the badge of Development Educator with the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Union (ACCU).
For twenty-six (26) years, Mr. Parcutilo built a great rapport with the Paglaum Savings & Credit Operations, its Paglaum Subsidiaries, and Coop-Owned Enterprises and together work for the betterment of the cooperative.