ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Pondo para sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) has already benefited 664 businessmen in the Zamboanga Peninsula as of October this year, releasing a total amount of PhP8.573 million worth of loans.
The P3, which was implemented in August this year, is one of the flagship programs of President Rodrigo Duterte to counter the “5-6” scheme of loan sharks, which is detrimental to small businessmen who have no choice but to bite into such borrowing scheme for them to stay afloat.
Dr. Sitti Amina Jain, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regional director, on Saturday said the P3 is designed to save the micro and small entrepreneurs from being victimized further by “5-6.”
Jain said that unfortunately, the businessmen who engaged in “5-6” scheme find themselves unable to grow their business because their money just went to payment and interest.
She said the P3 offers a very low interest rate of not more than 2.5 percent monthly.
Data from the Small Business Corporation (SBCor), DTI’s financing arm in charge of P3 program, showed that the biggest number of beneficiaries are from Zamboanga del Sur with 461, translating to PhP4.810 million worth of borrowings.
It is followed by Zamboanga del Norte with 99 beneficiaries (PhP1.557 million), Zamboanga Sibugay with 97 (PhP2.086 million) and Zamboanga City with seven with approved loan of PhP120,000.
At present, four micro-financing institutions serve as conduits for the project where the public can apply for loan.
These are the following: Radiowealth Finance Company (RFC); Card Inc.; Lorenzo Tan Multipurpose Cooperative; and, People’s Micro Finance Cooperative (PMFC).
But the PMFC is yet to accept P3 application as it is still in talks with its mother cooperative, the Mindanao Alliance of Self-Help Societies-Southern Philippines Educational Cooperative Center (MASS-SPECC) on the former’s full implementation of the program.
More MFIs are expected to be accredited for the P3 program as evaluation of application are ongoing. (PNA)
