I refer, among others, to the Citi Philippines headed by Country Officer Mr. Batara Sianturi; the Microfinance Council of the Philippines headed by Chairperson Ms. Maria Anna Ignacio; the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; and the members of our CMA National Selection Board – we have with us today Secretary Imelda Nicolas, Chairperson, Commission on Filipinos Overseas; former Monetary Board Member Antonino Alindogan, Jr; Ms. Marixi Rufino-Prieto, Chairman of Philippine Daily Inquirer; Mr. Jose Maria Concepcion III, President and CEO of RFM Corp; Dr. Darwin Yu, Dean of the School of Management of Ateneo de Manila University.
We also thank the people who patronize the goods and services of our microentrepeneurs and the members of the media who report the inspiring success stories of our CMA awardees. Indeed, we continue to see how microfinance empowers, transforms and uplifts individuals, families… even communities.