Anunciacion Santillan

Anunciacion Santillan won the National Award under the Maunlad category in the 2008 Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year Awards

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ANUNCIACION SANTILLAN: A Downpour of Blessings from Dry Goods Retailing

In 1999, Anunciacion Santillan used a mere folding bed along the sidewalk as display area for the dry goods she sold. Back then, life was not easy – she and her husband worked hard but still earned barely enough for themselves. Less than a decade after, she now owns six merchandize stalls in the Bantayan public market in Bantayan Island, Cebu. The change for the better was borne of hard work, perseverance, financial discipline, and a little outside help.

Year 2003 became a crossroad for the Santillans when they discovered First Agri-Industrial Rural Bank (FAIR Bank) in Cebu. Mrs. Santillan’s first loan, which amounted to Php 20,000 (US$400), was used to augment her savings to be used as business capital. A bigger capital meant more items to sell, thus, more opportunities for profit.

Since then, Mrs. Santillan has maintained an excellent client standing with FAIR Bank, which released her 11th loan cycle of Php 80,000 ($1,600) in May 2008. Year by year, her sales and profits grew. In 2008, she had yearly gross sales of approximately Php 9 million (US$180,000), which earned her an annual profit of around Php 600,000 (US$12,000).

With her earnings, she was able to finance the renovation of the family house, buy a car and a motorbike, furnish their home, and save up with the bank. She was likewise able to expand to a hog-raising business with around a hundred heads of hogs.

On top of these, the combined businesses are able to employ nine people, two of whom are her niece and nephew who are now able to go to school with their own wages. The businesses have become not just a source of blessing for the Santillans but for their family and community as well.

Anunciacion Santillan is more than happy to share not just her blessings, but her success story as well. She hopes that with it, other people will be inspired to try harder and succeed, knowing that she too had come from a humble sidewalk beginning just a decade ago.