Monday, November 13, 2006 Financing firm extends help to 80T low-income Cebuanos
ALL municipalities in Cebu Province have micro-finance institutions (MFIs) that cater to low-income individuals, said an official from a micro-finance company.
People’s Credit and Finance Corp. (PCFC) assistant vice president for Visayas operation Jose Rico Coligado said the firm has established lending partners in every town in Cebu.
He said PCFC has extended a total loan of about P840 million to its different MFI partners in the Visayas and P400 million went to Cebu. PCFC serves 80,000 clients in the province.
He told Sun.Star Cebu that because of the popularity of MFIs, even commercial banks are now venturing into this type of business.
“Hindi pa hopeless ang Pilipinas dahil ang daming natutulungan ng programa,” Coligado said. (The situation of the Philippines is not hopeless because the program is helping many people.)
Coligado said, though, that despite the mushrooming of several lending establishments in the country, “not everyone is a potential client.”
“While we are promoting micro-finance as a medium to cater to the poor, it’s always a misconception that we can service all of them. We always have to follow certain lending guidelines,” he said.
Problems
He said the lending industry is beset by several problems, such as “deliberate” non-payment by debtors.
“Marami talaga ang hindi nagbabayad. But we stretch the loans if the cause of non-payment is due to financial constraints or emergency cases,” he said.
“Discipline in handling finances is still the key to avoid being debt-dependent,” Coligado said during the Microfinance Academy seminar held at the Crown Regency Hotel in Mactan.
The four-day gathering of different MFI credit and loans officers in the Visayas last Nov. 9 to 12, aims to foster camaraderie among its field staff.
“The field staff will help our clients graduate from establishing really small businesses to becoming future SMEs (small and medium enterprises),” said PCFC assistant account officer Marlon Denina.
PCFC is a micro-finance company extending loans to several MFIs, including cooperatives, nongovernment organizations and rural banks. It was established 10 years ago and now has 45 active partners in the Visayas. (MMM)
