MANILA – A total of PHP5.42 billion worth of loans were released by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through its financing arm Small Business (SB) Corp., under its Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso or P3 Program as of June 2020.
In DTI’s technical report to the Office of the President, 150,320 individuals have benefitted from the microfinancing program of the government that aims to provide financial assistance to Filipinos who would like to start their own businesses.
The DTI launched the P3 Program in 2017 giving Filipinos better access to finance for them to avoid tapping loan sharks like the ‘5-6’ lending scheme.
The program started with PHP1 billion budget. The government can lend from PHP5,000 to PHP200,000 under the P3 Program with interest rate not exceeding 2.5 percent.
This was also one of the initiatives that the DTI rolled out in Marawi to help displaced residents and military personnel that were affected by the five-month battle in the city in 2017.
According to DTI, PHP7.6 million were released to 457 borrowers in Marawi and PHP32.45 million were released to wounded in action (WIA) soldiers as well as families of those killed in action (KIA) during the Marawi siege.
The DTI has partnered with various microfinance institutions (MFIs) to roll out the P3 Program particularly in rural areas.
Currently, the SB Corp. has 434 MFI partners and there are MFIs with pending application with DTI to launch the program in six provinces in the country.
“Through P3, DTI reaches out to entrepreneurs at the grassroots and the marginalized communities and assist them start or grow their business,” DTI said. (PNA)
