DTI suspends applications for COVID-19 aid

MANILA, Philippines — The financing arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has temporarily suspended accepting online applications for the lending program to help micro and small enterprises affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as loan requests have already exceeded the fund allocated for the facility.

Trade Undersecretary Blesila Lantayona said in a radio interview with dZRH that online applications for the COVID-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises or CARES program are closed in the meantime.

“For now, it is on a temporary break because the fund is oversubscribed. The fund is P1 billion but the applications received are now at P3.3 billion. If we open, applicants might expect but there might not be available funds. It’s just temporary,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in the same interview.

He said the plan is to transfer funds from the regular lending program for micro and small enterprises called the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) program also being administered by SB Corp. to the CARES program.

He also said the DTI is in talks to source new funds from the Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines for the CARES program.

As Congress resumes session next week, he said it is hoped the pending measure for a COVID-19 stimulus fund which among others would allocate funds for lending to micro, small and medium enterprises, would be passed.

So far, 3,711 loan applications amounting to P253.5 million have been approved under the CARES program.

To qualify for the program, a micro or small enterprise should be in operations for at least one year prior to March 16 of this year, and should have total assets worth P15 million and below.

Under the program, loans worth P10,000 to P200,000 could be borrowed by  micro enterprises with asset size not more than P3 million, while small enterprises with total assets not higher than P15 million can avail of loans worth up to P500,000.

Loans under the CARES program are pegged at zero interest rate and payable for 18 to 30 months.

Meanwhile, SB Corp. said it has launched a P100 million loan facility for repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by the health crisis.

The Helping the Economy Recover through OFW Enterprise Start-ups or HEROES, the component program of the P3 fund is intended to help repatriated OFWs start anew by becoming entrepreneurs.

Under the HEROES program, the OFW should present a video pitch of his or her start-up business proposal.

The OFW may borrow P10,000 up to P100,000 free of interest and collateral, but a service fee of six percent will be charged to loans with 24 months payment term and eight percent for loans with 36 months payment terms (inclusive of 12 months grace period).

Loans under the HEROES program should be used for working capital to start and sustain the business operations.

To apply, the OFW would need to pre-register for the online training with the Philippine Trade Training Center at bit.ly/HEROESPreReg.

Upon completion of the training, qualified applicants will be given instructions on how to submit their loan applications and requirements.