*  *  *  Thank you for inviting me to this annual gational gathering of RBAP. The theme you have chosen for this year: “Rural Banks: Making a Difference in Financial Inclusion” speaks well of your important role in increasing access to financial services, a role which you have been performing even before the term financial inclusion itself gained attention.
Rural banks and the changing environment Let us briefly go back in history. The very reason for the creation of rural banks in 1952 when Republic Act 720 was enacted – was for them to be the key local financial institutions providing credit to farmers and people of rural communities, thereby promoting and expanding the rural economy in an orderly and effective manner.