CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – A total of 1,567 marginalized farmers and fishers in Central Luzon whose livelihood was affected by the community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), have availed of loan assistance from the Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC).
Each borrower in the region's seven provinces, namely Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales, received the loan assistance under the DA-ACPC’s Expanded Survival and Recovery Assistance or SURE COVID-19 program.
The New Rural Bank of San Leonardo (NRBSL), Guagua Rural Bank (GR Bank), GM Bank and Alalay sa Kaunlaran Microfinance Social Development, Inc. (ASKI) which served as DA-ACPC’s partner lending conduits in the region, disbursed a total of PHP39.2-million loan funds.
ACPC program management officer for Central Luzon Cherry Acabal said the lending conduits target to provide PHP25,000 non-collateralized, interest-free loan payable up to 10 years to 3,457 small farmers and fishers in Central Luzon, most of them new borrowers.
ACPC field-based program management officer for Region 3 Arnie Alover said the farmers and fishers were first oriented about the SURE COVID-19 program.
In order to safeguard the borrowers’ protection against the dreaded disease during loan processing and release, Alover said health protocols were strictly observed and enforced by the ACPC, DA Regional Field Offices (DA-RFO), local government units (LGU) and lending conduits.
Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar, who chairs the DA-ACPC Board, earlier said the SURE COVID-19 loan window is part of the DA’s Plant, Plant, Plant Program or the "Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat (ALPAS) Kontra Covid-19 Program" that aims to increase the country’s food adequacy level.
“This is our way of helping agri-fishery MSEs and small farmers and fishers recover from their losses, as they play a crucial role in ensuring the availability of food supply in Metro Manila and other urban centers,” Dar said in his earlier statement. (PNA)