FOLLOWING President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to replace the “5-6” money lending system and provide an affordable micro-financing for the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the government’s Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) program pilots this month in Mindoro, Sarangani and Leyte, among the top 30 poorest provinces, to represent Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, said Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez.
“The P3 is designed to bring down the interest rate at which micro-finance is made available to micro enterprises,” added Lopez.
The 2017 General Appropriations Act has included an initial funding of P1 billion for financial assistance, a part of the planned P19 billion financing initiative for micro and small businesses in the next five years.
The program’s fund will be lent out in the business centers in the poorest provinces, where the participating microfinance institutions (MFIs) and Small Business Corporation (SB Corp.) operate.
An attached agency of DTI, SB Corp. will administer the P3 Program, including the creation of a Program Management Office (PMO), which will open a separate back account for the P3 Program.
Priority beneficiaries include micro-enterprises and entrepreneurs that do not have easy access to credit, or are accessing credit at very high cost, such as, micro-entrepreneurs, market vendors, agri-businessmen and members of cooperatives, industry associations and co-operators.
For more information on the services of the DTI, visit website www.dti.gov.ph.