On December 3, 2009,  President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo awarded a P300,000 check to Goodwill Credit Cooperative as part of its approved P2 million credit line. The Arroyo administration has given P170 billion in loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) since 2004.

P170 billion in loans released to SMEs

In her visit to Koronadal City on December 3, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced another milestone with the government’s release of a total of P170 billion in loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) since 2004.

To complete the P170 billion milestone, President Arroyo awarded a check in the amount of P300,000 to Arnold Cabasillas, president of the Goodwill Credit Cooperative based in General Santos City. The amount represented the first tranche of the P2 million credit line granted to Goodwill Credit Cooperative.

The government, through the SME Unified Lending Opportunities for National Growth (SULONG) program has released a total of P170 billion in loans to some 150,000 small and medium enterprises and sustained 2.5 million jobs since 2004, based on data released by the Small Business Corporation (SB Corporation), lead convenor of the SULONG program.

The SULONG program is a flagship program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through the SB Corporation to increase financing for the SME sector through collaborative efforts of seven government financial institutions (GFIs).

The DTI, in its accomplishment report, said that it has intensified its efforts to develop micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by providing assistance through the SULONG program. The program aims to provide financial assistance to MSMEs at lowered and standardized interest rates, relaxed financial and collateral requirement, and simplified and uniform loan documentation.

“Through SULONG, GFIs continue to look for common grounds to address the needs of SMEs, without losing sight of the prudential demands of a lending program,” SULONG finance committee chair and SB Corporation president and COO Benel P. Lagua said.

In the last five years, the Landbank of the Philippines has taken the lead with a total of P93 billion in loans released to SME clients, followed by the Development Bank of the Philippines with P54.7 billion. SB Corporation has released P16.2 billion.

Other SULONG GFIs are Quedan Rural Credit and Gua- rantee Corporation (Quedancor) with P3.3 billion, Philippine Export and Import Credit Agency (PhilExim) with P1.5 billion, Social Security System (SSS) with 1.2 billion, and the National Livelihood Support Fund (NLSF) with P294.5 million in retail and wholesale loans to SMEs.

In the same event, the President also distributed property titles to residents of Catitipon Village, Davao City as part of the community land acquisition support program of the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA).- PNA