CEBU, Philippines - With the continuing efforts of the micro-finance industry (MFI) in helping out more of the community, the Philippines is expected to climb up much higher in the rank of countries promoting means to alleviate poverty through wholistic approaches.
During the two-day seminar of the “Beyond Credit, A Wholistic Approach to Poverty Eradication,” guests of the activity emphasized the importance of not just extending financial support to those in need but also other means of assistance.
Supreme Court of the Philippines Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who gave the keynote address, shared that the Philippines is one of the top three countries that have been actively promoting the micro-finance industry and that the industry leaders have done a good job in promoting their sector and helping those in need.
Puno said that the industry has extended their help to those who loan money from them by guiding the borrowers which has resulted to a productive use of the loans.
He said that there is a great role of implementing a good and developed system in order to sustain the help being given to the Small and Medium enterprise players which would have a great deal in mitigating poverty issues in the country.
Puno said that the projects being implemented would be a work in progress considering the continuous “ride the wave of innovation.”
Ruben de Lara, president of the Micro-finance Council of the Philippines said that they see the importance of strengthening the industry and their efforts to lessen poverty in the country since survey shows that from 1997 to 2000, the poverty line has gone up from 31.8 percent of families suffering from poverty to 33.7 percent.
De Lara said that they would suppose that this number has increased over time considering the new addition of families that were affected with the recent typhoons that left thousand homeless and means of livelihood damaged.
According to de Lara, this is the reason why they are hoping to have the House Bill 4243 or the “Micro Enterprise Development Institution Act of 2008,” which would follow a focused program in alleviating poverty in the country to be passed and implemented by next year.
De Lara said that if the bill would be passed, it would be a milestone for the industry since it would provide legal and regulatory assistance for the sector since at present it is not regulated regardless of it being registered in the Securities and Exchange commission as a non-stock and non-profit organization.
Also, de Lara said that the bill would have existing non-profit organizations that are extending microfinance loans be accredited as a Micro Enterprise Development Institution and would be subject to a 2% tax on their gross income wherein it would be used by the government as funding for projects on poverty alleviation.
De Lara said that through the bill, the MFI industry would also be following a standard wherein they would not only extend financial services but other forms of assistance.
Angel de Leon, Taytay sa Kauswagan Executive Director, which is a MCPI member and one of the leading organizations making efforts to ease poverty in the country, said that they see how financial help alone would not be enough.
De Leon said that this is the reason they are focusing on the holistic approach where they also extend other help to gain access to proper education, healthcare, human development, and other factors needed to sustain a good livelihood.
He said that as cooperatives are increasing in the country, they are also encouraging more of these groups to partake in the initiatives to help more people get out of poverty.