CARD MBA elects new set of Board of Trustees

The CARD Mutual Benefit Association (CARD MBA), Inc. elected new set of Board of Trustees (BOTs) during the Association’s 19th Annual General Membership Meeting (AGMM) held at CMDI Bay Campus, Brgy. Tranca, Bay, Laguna on September 9, 2018.

CARD MBA is a microinsurance institution fully owned and managed by the members of the Association, who are the microfinance clients of the four financial institutions of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) namely CARD, Inc. (A Microfinance NGO), CARD Bank, CARD SME Bank, and Rizal Bank, Inc.

The new members of the board are also MBA coordinators in their respective communities for years already. They act as the Association’s support system spreading the importance of having insurance and in ensuring that their co-members are given timely claims during uncertainties.

For this year, out of 1,860 coordinators nationwide, there were 13 nominees who underwent and passed the two levels of screening by the Nomination Committee also known as Central Selection Committee. Seven nominees are from Luzon clusters, three nominees from Visayas clusters, and three from Mindanao clusters.

The whole election process was facilitated and supervised by the Election Committee chaired by Atty. Virlynn Rose Ramirez. Before the election proper started, the 13 nominees were given opportunity to introduce themselves, to answer questions about their unforgettable experience as coordinator, and to discuss their platform once they become one of the Board of Trustees. After the introductions and some personal sharing of experiences, online voting followed.

“The Board of Trustees has a major role in governing the Association effectively and efficiently. Since they are also members of the Association, they know the exact needs and concerns of their colleagues. We believe that having them as leaders will create better governance in the Association,” said May S. Dawat, chief executive officer of CARD MBA.

In just an hour, the election result was announced. The overall proxy votes were equivalent to 85.4% of the 3,004,801 voting members of CARD MBA in 2018. The top six elected officers will serve the institutions for two years namely Ligaya P. Ramos from Visayas cluster who garnered 1,970,358 votes, Dorfe A. Pagunsan from Mindanao cluster with 1,954,502 votes, Flordeliza Cristobal from Luzon 2 cluster with 1,952,452 votes, Marabella Celoso from Visayas cluster with 1,840,401 votes, Audrey Cabebe from Luzon 1 cluster with 1,705,483 votes, and Roselyn Bayron from Mindanao 1 cluster. Meanwhile, Girlie Lopez who placed 7th in the elections will serve for only one year following the regulation of the Insurance Commission Circular 2018-35 released on June 26, 2018.

“I am privileged to be part of the Board of Trustees of CARD MBA. I never thought that this would happen in my life as CARD member. I will be forever grateful for this new opportunity entrusted to me. I will make sure that the voices of my colleagues in the Association will be heard and given fair treatment,” said Ligaya P. Ramos, more than seven years MBA coordinator.

Operations Highlights
The accomplishments of the Association in 2017 were also reported at the general meeting. As of December 31, 2017, CARD MBA has 54 Provincial offices with a total of 4,225,804 active members and 15,321,881 insured individuals. Its assets reached up to more than PHP13 billion.

“The success of CARD MBA last year will serve as our inspiration to pursue our goal in reaching more lives in the marginalized sector. We will continue innovating and improving our services and adhere to the overall goal of poverty eradication of CARD MRI group,” said Dawat.

CARD MRI is a group of 21 development-oriented institutions including CARD MBA that provides financial services and community- based social development programs to socio-economically challenged women and families.