The Small Business Corporation, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, is now accepting loan applications for micro and small business enterprises under its Covid-19 P3 ERF or Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso Enterprise Rehabilitation Fund.
DTI Cordillera Director Myrna Pablo said the SB Corp. has approved P1 billion for its Covid-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) program as enrolled by the DTI in the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
MSEs in operation for at least one year can apply for a loan ranging from P10,000 to P500,000. The loan should be used for the rehabilitation of the company or to replace its inventories, as a working capital, and for car loan amortization, Pablo said.
The SB Corp ERF loan portfolio has an interest rate of 0.5 percent per month payable in 12 months to a maximum of 24 months. It is open to 100 percent Filipino-owned SMEs operating for at least one year immediately prior to March 16 or to individual entrepreneurs significantly impacted by the declaration of the enhanced community quarantine.
Requirements will depend on the amount of loan. Among these are simple physical assets, proof of permanent business address, barangay business certificate/permit, DTI/Securities and Exchange Commission certificate of registration, issuance of postdated checks, mayor’s business permit, audited in-house 2019 financial statement, and Bureau of Internal Revenue certificate of registration.
For more information, interested MSEs can visit the nearest DTI provincial office in their locality. SB Corp account personnel are stationed in these offices.
Pablo said based on their monitoring, of the 24,716 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Cordillera, 13,999 or 56.64 percent have closed operations, while 8,731 or 35.33 percent have limited operations. Only around 1,986 or 8.04 percent of the MSMEs in the region have maintained their operation.
Most ECQ-affected small businesses are those in services, retailing, manufacturing, agribusiness, construction, wearables, and home styles and arts/entertainment/health, she added. – Carlito C. Dar
