(Lubao Mayor Esmie Pineda and MSWDO Malou delos Reyes award the loan proceeds to qualified 4Ps beneficiary. Contributed Photo)
LUBAO, Pampanga–More than 165 indigent families in this town who are under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the national government can now start their own small businesses.
This, after the family-beneficiaries qualified for the P15,000 interest-free loan from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as startup capital for their individual projects.
Newly-minted Mayor Esmie G. Pineda, assisted by Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer (MSWDO) Marilou Delos Reyes, on Monday personally handed the loans to the third batch of recipients coming from barangays Lourdes, Sta. Catalina and Prado Siongco.
The loan proceeds are expected to be used as capital for various business ventures such as sari-sari store, food stalls, and, fish or sampaguita trading.
The grantees need to repay the loan within one year to qualify for an additional P5,000-loan.
Payment must be done thru the accredited bank, which will also release the additional loan after evaluation of the grantee-payor.
Delos Reyes said the fund assistance’s objective is to help the beneficiaries earn steady income and eventually graduate from the 4Ps program.
“This way, the government can shift to other families that badly need programs like the 4Ps,” Delos Reyes said.
DSWD’s municipal links will be deployed after six months to evaluate the beneficiaries to ensure that the funds released are indeed used for their families’ livelihood.
Mayor Pineda, for her part, reminded the beneficiaries to put the fund to good use and to repay the loans on time.
“The government is doing its share to uplift the lives of the less-fortunate and we hope that the beneficiaries of these programs would value these assistance. How? By putting the money where they are intended to be spent and then settle their obligations to the government,” Pineda said.
