CABERTE
The Department of Trade and Industry in Central Visayas (DTI-7) is keen on approving more local conduits to hasten the release of loans for micro entrepreneurs in the region.
DTI-7 Director Asteria Caberte, in a press conference last week, said they have found that local conduits under the government’s newly rolled out Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) program process loans faster than their local counterparts.
“Our findings were that local conduits work faster than the national partners, maybe because these people have a track record as well as an existing line of communication with local borrowers,” she said.
The program was launched nationwide in May following pilot tests in Tacloban, Leyte; San Jose, Occidental Mindoro; and Alabel, Sarangani earlier this year.
To allow wider reach and facilitate faster release of funds, the Small Business Corporation (SB Corp.), an attached agency of the DTI, has partnered with micro-finance institutions, cooperatives, and associations.
At the local level, SB Corp. recently approved the First Consolidated Bank of Bohol and the Cebu-based Lamac Multipurpose Cooperative.
SB Corp. earlier said it was in talks with other potential partners including the Gabay Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Coolway Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., Cebu People’s Cooperative, as well as RFC Cebu.
Among P3’s accredited national level conduits are Cebuana Lhuillier, Radiowealth Finance Corp., Taytay sa Kauswagan, Inc., and MASS-SPECC Cooperative Development Center.
“We will accredit more local conduits to speed up the process of loan releasing,” said Caberte.
Asked how many they target to accredit within 2017, she said it will depend on the demand from borrowers.
However, she expressed optimism that more groups would be encouraged to sign up as local conduits under the program if they see existing partners no longer able to accommodate the needs of borrowers once the demand goes up.
P3 program
The P3 program aims to provide microenterprises in the region with an alternative source of financing, made easily accessible and available at reasonable costs.
Loans may range from P5,000 to as high as P300,000 with a maximum interest rate pegged at 26 percent per annum, requiring zero collateral and promising a “24-hour” credit release.
According to the DTI, priority beneficiaries include microenterprises and entrepreneurs that do not have easy access to credit or are accessing credit at a very high cost, such as micro-entrepreneurs, market vendors, agri-businessmen, and members of cooperatives, industry associations, and co-operators.
“This alternative funding dedicated for micro and small enterprises is meant to discourage the 5-6 money lending system in our country,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in an earlier statement.
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