Today's Issue
- Editor's Take
- SME Special Report
- Events: Professional Events Management, an Advanced Course (Thursday 31 July and Friday 1 August); Mindanao Printing 2008 (Thursday 31 July to Sunday 3 August); Technical Research Writing (Wednesday 30 July); ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System Documentation (Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 August); Food Safety (Monday 4 August); Business Expense Savings Training (BEST) Game Workshop (Tuesday 5 August); and Cleaner Production (Wednesday 6 August)
- Tax Calendar
SME Special Report:
Ambassador Tambunting continues to inspire SMEs in the country
On his speech dubbed as, "A Taste of Philippine SME Success"—Planters Development Bank's chairman and CEO, Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting was the keynote speaker for Globe Business’ Appreciation Night held on July 16, at the Blue Leaf Event Pavillion, Fort Bonifacio Global City, he delivered one stirring narration of the bank's success story.
Thirty six years ago, Ambassador Tambunting was a senior executive of one of our country's largest banks when he decided to strike out on his own and buy a small Bulacan-based thrift bank. His business plan was to begin small, grow the bank, move it to Makati and then transform it into a commercial bank catering to large corporate accounts. However, fate has charted a different path for Plantersbank. Due to the bank's first offices' small size and its bucolic site, it catered to the small businessmen and entrepreneurs in that region.
To read full story, click here!
Tax Calendar
Wednesay 30 July- e-Filing & e-Payment of 1702Q together with the Summary Alphalist of Withholding Agents of Income Payments Subjected to Withholding Tax (SAWT) -L,SNL & NL Taxpayers for TQ ending May 31 2008.
Source: Bureau of Internal Revenue
Editor's Take
Perhaps, one of the most influential people in the human history is Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the former South African President, the first to be elected in fully representative democratic elections. Prior to his election, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress.
TIME magazine, has put Mandela on its cover and is retelling the eight secrets of this icon's successful brand of leadership. What struck me the most is Lesson #1 which says: "Courage is not the absence of fear"-it is inspiring others to go beyond it.
Albeit worlds apart and under different circumstances this lesson on courage is not absent in the journey of Plantersbank chairman Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting, who in the early 1970s left his lucrative career as a top commercial banker to strike out on his own at the helm of a small thrift bank in the Philippine countryside.
For someone to trade the perks and certainties of traditional banking for the unexplored terrain of small and medium enterprise (SME) finance certainly took a lot of courage and self-mastery. Even more that he had come forward in a time when there were no blueprints or models on which to base such work.
Ambassador Tambunting is certainly admirable for his firm dedication to a business model that is solely focused on SMEs and for his passion to make market systems work to uplift the quality of people's lives.
Today, Planters Development Bank is the largest privately-owned development bank in the country and recognized as the leader in SME Finance and enabler of entrepreneurs. With a nationwide network of online branches, it now belongs to the Top 250 in the country's Top 1000 corporations and is ranked as the 19th largest bank in the country among 39 commercial and universal banks and over 800 thrift and rural banks.
Like other strong leaders, the Philippines' numero uno SME advocate displayed a lot of, in the face of many moral, emotional and social challenges. He has not simply played a leading role in shaping the SME market. He has given the SME a better place and stature in the national economy.
What's your take on this? We want to hear from you! To participate in the discussion, click here!
