MANILA — Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez welcomed legislative measures supporting the microfinance program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso or P3 Program.
Both houses in Congress now have pending bills seeking to institutionalize the P3 Program introduced by the DTI, after Senator Aquilino Pimentel filed Senate Bill No. 2017 or “An Act Providing a Socialized Microfinancing Program thereby Promoting Entrepreneurship” last week.
Last June, House Bill No. 7446 or the “P3 Act” was filed in the lower house.
“This is another milestone as we continue our drive to empower our MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) and alleviate poverty,” Lopez said.
“Through this bill, we will be able to assist more entrepreneurs to have easy access to P3 loans that come in one-form, one-day processing, and don’t require any collateral, especially those in the countryside,” he added.
Under the current P3 Program, the government extends microfinancing to improve MSMEs’ access to capital in order to grow their businesses while promoting entrepreneurship among Filipinos.
This microfinancing program of government is channeled through the Small Business (SB) Corp., the financing arm of the government.
Under the P3 Program, the government lends PHP5,000 to PHP200,000 with an interest rate of not exceeding 2.5 percent. This is also much lower than the 20 percent yield from loan sharks like the “5-6” lending scheme.
In a previous interview, Lopez mentioned that he aimed to institutionalize the P3 Program so it can secure an annual budget and thus be sustainable.
This will also ensure that the financing program, which benefits small entrepreneurs, will go on despite changes in government leadership. (Kris Crismundo/PNA)
