THE Pondo Para sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) loan assistance program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be launched nationwide second quarter of this year.
In Wednesday's weekly Habi at Kape media forum at the Abreeza Ayala Mall, DTI regional director Maria Belenda Ambi said the P3 was first launched sometime in January this year in three identified poorest provinces in the country -- Sarangani, Leyte, and Occidental Mindoro.
It was previously reported that P3 will be the Duterte administration’s alternative to the popular "5-6" scheme that adds a 20 percent interest rate to the original loaned amount.
Ambi said the Small Business Corporation (SBC) will be the central implementing agency of the said project. Their Davao office is located at Landco Corporate Center in Bajada.
SBC will also be in-charge of the program guideline creation including the strict implementation of the 2.5 percent interest rate to be given to the borrowers.
The P3 program will not directly be available to individual borrowers.
Instead, the program will be channeled through the micro-lending institutions, most especially those who have access to the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) borrowers.
Since they target to aid MSMEs, the loans will be available for as low as P5,000 to as high as P200,000.
The Radiowealth Finance Corporation is one of the accredited institutions in the region that can avail of the program.
Ambi said they look forward for more micro-lending institutions to be accredited in time for its nationwide launch.
She also hopes that urban communities will also be considered as well.
