THE Department of Trade and Industry in Central Visayas (DTI-7) announced on Wednesday the nationwide roll out of Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3).
P3 is a lending program initiated by President Rodrigo Duterte for micro entrepreneurs to replace the usurious “5-6” money lending system.
The national government has allocated P1 billion in funds for the program, which will be managed by the Small Business Corporation (SBC), according to Francisco Buenavides, manager of SBC-Visayas.
Buenavides said that through the program, micro entrepreneurs who don’t have access to standard financial services offered by banks can now have access to financing at reasonable cost.
Micro entrepreneurs like market vendors, those engaged in agribusiness and members of cooperatives and industry associations can avail of the loans under P3, which offers lower interest rates of 2.5 percent per month compared to the very high 20 percent interest rate offered in the 5-6 credit scheme, he added.
The application for borrowing requires only minimal documents and a 24-hour target processing makes it easier for micro entrepreneurs to borrow money.
The program also offers easy payment schemes where a borrower can opt for a weekly or daily collection.
Borrowers can apply for a loan from P5,000 to P100,000 with no collateral.
“Small Business Corporation is the administrator of this fund, we created a program management that will manage the implementation of this program. The delivery system is that we will accredit conduits,” Buenavides said.
He said the conduits are accredited partner institutions of the government like microfinance institutions both national and local, cooperatives, and associations that will directly implement the lending program.
Radioweath Finance Corporation and Cebuana Lhuillier are the first accredited Microfinance Institutions nationwide for the P3, he said.
Among the possible conduits are the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Gabay Multi Purpose Cooperative, and Cebu People’s Cooperative, he added.
The program was piloted in the country’s top 30 poorest provinces in January this year, including Antique, Negros Oriental, Leyte, Eastern Samar,
Western Samar and Misamis Occidental in the Visayas.
Buenavides said the program was well received by the people; hence the decision to also make it available to all the 81 provinces in the country.