Success Stories & Testimonials

I. A Wish Come (More Than) True

The Story of Fernando Constantino Community Entrepreneur


He is not your typical businessman in a business suit with a fancy briefcase. One always gets the wrong impression with him, with his soft-spoken ways, his simple clothes, and his unassuming demeanor. But the guy has clout, financially and socio-economically, in the local community where he resides.

Mr. Fernando Constantino, or Mang Inte (Mr. Inte), as he is fondly called by almost everyone, did not start out as a big-time businessman. Coming from a farming family in the town of Gapan in Nueva Ecija, he never was a businessman, but he knew how hard it was for his father to have access to capital during those years.

When he first borrowed from the Bank, back in 1995, his first loan was for a mere US$588 (Peso 30,000). He just got word that there is this New Rural Bank of San Leonardo that is lending to small, even micro-entrepreneurs, so he applied, with only his sheer determination to gain access to capital and use it wisely as his passport. The application was eventually approved and the first loan was used for a 1-hectare farm lot he leased from his father. He planted it with onion and radish. On the side, he moonlighted as porter for wholesale buyers transporting produce from the farm to the cities, and from this, he earned extra income. This first venture was so successful, that when he repaid his first loan, he borrowed more than the initial amount which, this time, he used to lease additional farmlots and to put up a sari-sari (literally various, but a mini-grocery) store.

Mang Inte remembers how he used to walk kilometers from his home to the farm, having had to cross the river to shorten his route. And how, during the rainy season when the river was flooded, he had to walk an even longer, circuitous route, even up to the next town, just to reach the farm. He reflects, “ang pangarap ko lang noon ay makabili ng bisekleta, para hindi na ako naglalakad; malayo din kasi (my only wish then was to be able to buy a bike, so that I would not have to walk the distance)”.

With his spartan upbringing and never-say-die mentality, he labored and strived, through the back-breaking labor in the farm, day in and day out, to reach his “bike”. As luck and hard work would have it, his ventures all turned out well, and the Bank was always there to support even new ones. So he applied for additional loans, through the years, and continued to use these funds for other businesses.


Today, he owns 5 hectares of farm land in Castellano in San Leonardo that he plants to onion, raddish, corn and other cash crops. He employs 5 farmhands to assist him. The sari-sari store is now a complete grocer with an adjoining eatery/restaurant. He also has a tire vulcanizing shop along Cagayan Valley Road in Castellano, which he will soon relocate to a bigger site so that he can expand the operations and offer complete machine shop and repair services. He is also planning to go into wholesaling of pawid (nipa) and kawayan (bamboo), common roofing and light construction materials in the rural areas. He is also into the hauling business. For all these ventures, he has 15 regular employees who are residents of the community, this apart from his children and their spouses who help in the supervision. But during

peak seasons – planting and harvesting his cash crops – he employs more. During planting season, his 5 farmhands commission the services of 250 contractual farm laborers paid on a daily basis for the duration of the planting! At harvest time, after 3 to 4 months, the contractual farm laborers number 125! These laborers are from Mang Inte’s locality and some are migrant workers from neighboring municipalities.

The wish for a bike was granted beyond Mang Inte’s wildest imagination. He now has, more than the bike, a 10-wheeler truck, a truck-trailer, an Isuzu Elf van, an XLT asian utility vehicle, an Escapade family van, and a motorized tricycle. These are apart, of course, from his farm and shop machineries and equipments.

From less than US$600 in 1995, he now has an available line of up to P1.2 Million or US$23,500. At 49 years, Mang Inte operates the businesses with his wife, Aurelia, who takes care of the financial aspects of the businesses, and his two older sons, both married and who assists him in overseeing the different ventures. His two younger daughters are both studying, taking up business courses. As the local folks say, “ayos na si Mang Inte (Mister Inte has got it made!)”.

In parting, Mang Inte said, I struck while the iron was hot. With the Bank supporting me all the way, I kept on venturing into other businesses, never wavering, and as luck and the good Lord would have it, success is guaranteed!

Noe & Marietta Bello’s Rise-to-Success Story


Noe and Marietta Bello came home from Saudi Arabia to care for the latter’s ageing mother, who died not long thereafter. The couple decided not to return to the Middle East and stay permanently in Sto. Cristo, San Antonio, Nueva Ecija. They were tired of the expatriate life in Saudi, where they saw each other only at the most, twice a week. Here in the Philippines, they knew they can also prepare for their future.

Marietta was able to borrow five thousand pesos from the Bank through the Lima Para Sa Lahat program. They used that money to start an electronic repair shop, buying spare parts from Raon, in Manila. Noe used to do minor repairs first, because the spare parts were expensive and the limited capital allowed them to maintain just a small inventory. Little by little, their clientele increased. They were able to maximize the 5 thousand capital, repay for the loan, and earn enough for their daily subsistence.

As early as a year into the program, the couple was already planning on leasing a shop space in the poblacion; good thing they were able to borrow P20,000 (US$392) on their third cycle. This they used as down payment for the stall and to buy additional parts.


It has been a year since they opened that leased stall. Now, they boast of a revolving capital of one hundred thousand pesos (US$1,960), and their shop, “BELMAR Electronic Repairs and Services”, is advertised in the local cable TV network. Noe takes care of the services, Marietta sees to the purchases and other financial aspects of the business. Their nephews are now employed as technical assistants of Noe. They also plan to branch out and venture into car air-conditioning services.

“This is the fruit of the Bank’s program for us poor entrepreneurs”, the couple ended with pride.

Amelia Muyot, Businesswoman


Married to Fortunato, with 3 kids, Ms. Amelia Muyot resides in the Poblacion, San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija.

Her first loan under the Lima Para Sa Lahat (Five For All) Program was for P3,000 which she used as additional capital to buy cloth and other pants materials. An experienced cutter, she would buy the cloth, cut them as to patterns, and sew them, together with an assistant, using two dilapidated sewing machines.

She remembers how her calloused hands looked from all the cutting and edging she did. And she swore to herself she will buy a cutting machine to spare herself the agony. And buy she did! And her calloused hands are now a thing of the past. Where before she orders 50 kilos of cloth, she now orders 150 kilos. And she now has 6 high-speed sewing machines.

Although she recently stopped borrowing because her earnings now are more than sufficient to sustain her operations, she continues to save and invest. Apart from her household appliances and business machines, she bought an owner-type jeep now used as a delivery vehicle. She also went into livestock raising, and presently has 6 swine fatteners. She is proud to say that she is helping her local community as she now employs sewers in her business. And she is quick to include that she will always be grateful to the bank for the opportunity accorded her.

The Story of Conrado and Visitacion Castillo


Conrado and Visitacion Castillo, both 37 years old, are from Nieves, San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija. They have four children. Theirs is another story of success borne out of hard work and a little help from the New Rural Bank of San Leonardo.

Early on in their married life, the couple was into slipper and sandal making. Their market used to be Baclaran, in Manila. Now, they have distribution agents for their markets that include the ShoeMart chain of malls, Neo Marketing, Gaisano Stores, Grand Central Mall, etc.

They started with one machine, two hired hands, and manual cutters. Now they have machines for each step or phase in the sandal-manufacturing process. Their regular workforce now totals 60 (mostly residents from their community, and some migrants from Northern Luzon and the Visayas), for the peak summer months of March, April and May.

They used to source raw materials from Gapan, Nueva Ecija. Now they have direct access to big suppliers and factories in the city, where they buy in volumes. They need to buy in volumes, as they now produce, more or less, two thousand dozen pairs weekly!

The couple first borrowed from the Bank for additional working capital in 1995. Then, when the sandal-making business gained some headway, they borrowed again, and used the proceeds to buy a calamansi plantation. They now have a 6-hectare calamansi farm and a 1-hectare mahogany plantation. The calamansi farm, where the Castillos are focusing now, employ 200 laborers during peak seasons, all of these from the local community. If we include the sandal-making and trucking concerns of Mr. and Mrs. Castillo, they employ almost 300 laborers from the community.

The Castillo’s available credit line with the Bank is at P450,000 or US$8,800.



They have 6 vehicles, one of which is a dump truck used for a new joint venture with Mr. Castillo’s brother – hauling.