Sometimes the stories bore a cautionary tale when it appeared that the friend couldn’t redeem the pawned articles anymore.
Still some stories I heard recalled how useful having that neighborhood pawnshop was for short- term emergency credit needs. It usually is necessary at tuition fee time, or a beloved one was brought to the emergency room.
Still and all, most of the stories had happy endings because the temporary cash flow crisis was relieved as soon as salaries or bonuses were received, or a small business earned profits.
A mainstay in the lives of many
I also recall my mother and my aunts discussing jewelry, and why in buying a certain piece it has to be de calidad so it would have some pawnshop value if the need ever comes up.
In 2017 Cebuana Lhuillier during its 64th anniversary, shared stories of how it has earned its keep in the communities where it is located.
Cebuana is certainly one of the country’s oldest pawnshops and, possibly, with the broadest reach in the country.
One client shared how Cebuana had been a mainstay in the life of her family, allowing her to send her children to school.
Stories of ordinary Filipinos
Another was a fellow from Pangasinan who moved to Manila as a fruit vendor. Starting with only a bilao and his savings, he was able to build a small fruit stand. He remits his earnings through Cebuana to his family in the province. He has eight children, and two of them had already finished college.
Still another story was the woman whose house burned to ashes in a neighborhood fire. Her microinsurance investment of P100 bought from Cebuana allowed her to start rebuilding her house and her livelihood.
These are stories not of the rich and wealthy, not the upper 10 percent of our society. Rather, they are stories of ordinary Filipinos — stories in which many of us see ourselves. Their travails and triumphs mirror our own, reflecting the shared experiences of resilience and hope.
What the people need
The lowly neighborhood pawnshop has evolved to something so much more. When government policy wonks talk about a financial inclusion framework, this is what it means — a system where a Filipino in need of credit can get it as easily as visiting a sari-sari store, where affordable insurance products can insure his health, home, and livelihood, and where sending money to his family is secure and seamless.
The Filipina does not need an advanced degree, financial expertise, or even fluency in English to access these services. She just has to have the financial need and the institution, in this case, the pawnshop, to provide access to services which will meet her financial needs.
I remember all of these now again amid the destruction to life and property in the aftermath of Typhoon Kristine.
After the urgent rescue and relief efforts that are now ongoing will come the more difficult rebuilding process.
My prayer is that many more Filipino families and individuals will have immediate recourse to their own financial savings and investments through the ubiquitous and helpful neighborhood pawnshop.
Ms. Habitan served as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Finance where she became a career bureaucrat for 44 years immediately after graduating with a degree in Business Economics from the University of the Philippines. She has a masters degree in D
