Of flour and scrap materials

Like the flour that is the main ingredient of his sweet-tasting bread, Allan Geron, owner of a successful bakeshop and mini grocery in San Juan, Batangas, has developed a keen sense of rising under extreme pressure — a grassroots entrepreneur with a stature equal to that of the industry’s big players.

On several occasions, Geron’s dedication to his business has been put to test, wherein the easiest option was to simply give up. In 2006, an earthquake shook Batangas and left his store devastated with losses amounting to over P 100,000. Shortly after, “Typhoon Reming” wiped out his newly reconstructed shop, his materials and ingredients lost to the floods.

“Not only that,” Geron added, “My master baker resigned to join another group during the time when my daughter was born with a medical condition that required expensive medical treatment. Truly a hard time for me.”

A story somewhat similar to Geron’s is that of Ruel Limpin, who has literally found money in garbage. Limpin, a native of Samar, operates R. L. Enterprises, a waste-recycling business, which boasts of an annual profit of P600,000.

“At 18, I was already working as a jeepney driver. Then I became a truck driver for a scrap dealer. When my employer left for Manila, I found a partner to put up our own recycling business,” recounted Limpin.

The main operation of R.L. Enterprises, which employs some 30 people to sort, segregate, clean bottles, grind certain plastic materials in the milling machine, and pack the products for sale, runs in Cebu, where milled plastic bits are melted and recycled. Metal and other scrap material, on the other hand, are brought to a buyer in Tacloban.

Before setting up his business, which from being a small stall made of kawayan and patpat has grown to a P 20,000-a-day moneymaker, Geron was exposed to a life of trials and sacrifices.

He toiled for nine years in Brunei just to provide a decent life for his family. He said, “Of course, there is no need to elaborate on how big the sacrifices our OFWs make just to keep up with the uncertainties of life away from their loved ones.”

However, Geron sees these monumental trials as signifiers of how rewarding his success has become. His business is now operating at a rate of 25,000 pieces of bread a day. It has also developed into a standard jeepney stop along the road to their town.

Geron attributes the growth of his business to his ability to access finance, in which the Bangko Kabayan Microfinance Program called Ilaw ng Tahanan Program is a vital turning point as it has supported his business from the start.

Meanwhile, Limpin plans to establish an R.L. Enterprises branch in Abuyog, Leyte and another in Catbalogan, Samar.  He estimates that the capital requirement of each branch is P700,000.  He does not foresee a decline in the volume of scrap material, instead expecting the volume of waste materials for recycling to further increase in the years ahead.

According to Limpin, the earnings from his enterprise, which was financially supported by the Rural Bank of Dulag (Leyte) Inc., are used to maintain a 2,000-square meter lot where he gathers, segregates and mills the scrap material bought from a network of buying stations. Limpin also claimed that his business helped his family build a modest house, which is furnished with basic appliances like TV, refrigerator and gas range.

“So when someone tells you there is money in junk, don’t laugh for there is wisdom in what he says,” quipped Limpin, who, besides busying himself with his business, is also active in their community as barangay captain.

Geron and Limpin will each be conferred the Maunlad Award in this year’s Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year (MOTY) Awards, slated on Nov. 13 at the BSP Galleria, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, by Citi Country Head Sanjiv Vohra, BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco and Presidential Consultant for Entrepreneurship Jose Concepcion III. The Maunlad Award is given to microentrepreneurs that have grown a business to a level that is now generating employment for people apart from household or family members.

In partnership with the Microfinance Council of the Philippines and the Go Negosyo advocacy of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, the 2007 MOTY Awards is a project of Citigroup Inc., one of the world’s largest financial services organizations. The program’s pilot run was conducted in 2002, during the celebration of Citi’s centennial year in the Philippines. The awards aim to elevate awareness of and provide support for microfinance by recognizing outstanding microentrepreneurs.

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