JULIUS ADRIAN R. ALIP
I WAS 12 years old when CARD started as a foundation, providing loans to landless coconut workers. I witnessed its growth from its humble office—a classroom lent by my grandfather to my father at the back of the San Pablo City public market—to its more than 2,000 offices spread across the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. Throughout its 31 years of existence, it has remained faithful to its mission of eradicating poverty. Its visionary leadership, committed staff and resilient clients all contributed to its present status: CARD is now composed of 21 mutually reinforcing institutions, a multi-billion-peso social development organization serving more than 4.5 million clients and manned by staff of more than 13,000.