Toda max. Grateful trike drivers pose with their patron Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano with Vice Mayor Vicky Vega- Cabigting joining in the fun. Contributed photo
ANGELES CITY — Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter “Companero” S. Cayetano once again turned over funds to a public transport association in the city to start a micro- finance program that offers small loans to its members at low interest and easy payment schemes.
“At the beginning of 2015, let us give Filipino families in Angeles City an opportunity to start the year right. Despite the recent corruption anomalies and price hike issues hounding the country, we should remain committed to our goal of helping the people win against poverty,” the senator said.
On Thursday, Cayetano met with the members of the Santo Domingo Tricycle Operators and Drivers’ Association (TODA) to personallyhand over a total of P200,000 to serve as seed fund that will assist tricycle drivers in starting their own small businesses and wean them away from loan sharks that charge usurious interest rates.
The senator lamented that although small businesses are proven to be a huge factor in the country’s economic development, most of them do not have enough capital to sustain their operations.
He noted that in 2011, small businesses were responsible for the generation of some 3.872 million jobs, contributing 61 percent of the total number of jobs created by all types of business establishments.
However, citing a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas statement, he said only around 20 percent of small businesses are granted loans by the banking sectors and continued to say that the government has an opportunity to fill this gap.
Thus, the senator proposed to allocate P1 billion worth of funds per region to establish a nationwide microfinance program that will provide small businesses wider access to loans.
“Kung meron tayong P64 billion para sa 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) ng gobyerno, siguro naman pwede tayong maglagay ng kahit isang bilyon per region para magkaroon ang bawat region ng sarili nilang anti 5-6 program,” he said.
The proposal is similar to Cayetano’s “Kontra 5-6 Program,” which was launched during his campaign for re-election in 2013 as part of his Presyo, Trabaho, Kita (PTK) platform aimed at promoting projects that lower the prices of goods, create more jobs, and increase people’s income.
The project now has a total of 68 beneficiaries all over the country, providing livelihood loans amounting from P50,000 to P250,000 to small business organizations and associations that cater to different sectors of society. The members of the Sto. Domingo TODA are the program’s latest beneficiaries.
“This program was designed to be easy, simple and sustainable. By developing cooperatives with the capacity to lend capital to its members, we are enabling more Filipinos to establish their own small businesses and eventually provide more employment opportunities for other Filipinos,” Cayetano said. Joining the senator at the L&S covered court was was actress Shaina Magdayao.
