March 28, 2024

The Small Business Corporation (SBCorp), an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, explained why some applications under the Rise Up Program are denied.

Rise Up stands for Resilient, Innovative, and Sustainable Enterprises, Unleash your Powers which aims to sustain the gains of micro, small and medium enterprises who survived the Covid-19 pandemic. It provides multi-purpose loans that are accessible and have soft terms.

Mylvie Almosara of the SB Corp.-Northern Luzon said they have received 334 applications but only 114 were approved.

Almosara said documentary requirements must be completed before they process the application, such as ensuring that applicants have been operating for at least one year.

Applicants are given one week to comply and failure to comply results in the denial of the application, she said.

 Another ground for disapproval is the adverse findings from the credit investigation they conduct.

“One of our processes before we evaluate their loan application is we conduct credit investigation. Nakikita namin kung ano ‘yung kanilang mga exposures with other financial institutions and if we find out na may mga outstanding balances, ‘yun ang nagiging grounds for the disapproval,” Almosara said.

She added SBCorp does not cater to startup businesses because what they are looking into is the capacity of the applicant to pay the loan.

There are three sub-programs, namely Rise Up multi-purpose loan to help sustain the gains of the multi-sectoral MSMEs that have survived the past two years of crisis; the Rise Up Turismo, which aims to assist MSMEs in the tourism sector to recover from the adverse effects of the pandemic; and the Rise Up Tindahan to help sustain retail stores, dealers, and distributors who have survived the pandemic. – Debbie E. Gasingan