3,768 entrepreneurs benefit from QC’s Sikap Buhay loans

The Puhunang Pangkabuhayan Sikap Buhay (PPSB) non-collateral loan facility program of Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has benefited at least 3,768 small entrepreneurs from poor communities in the last two years, according to a top official of the National Livelihood Support Fund (NLSF).

Antonio Ortiz, NLSF executive director and chief operation officer, said the PPSB popularly known among Quezon City residents as "Sikap Buhay," a joint undertaking of the NLSF and Quezon City government, has disbursed loans amounting to P40 million small businesses in various parts of the city.

Belmonte and Ortiz personally handed checks yesterday afternoon to 232 new beneficiaries from Barangays Batasan Hills, Commonwealth, Fairview, Paltok and Culiat.

The new batch of beneficiaries are made up mostly of housewives who want to augment income of their husbands.

In an earlier report to the mayor, Ortiz said partners of the PPSB — the Cooperative Rural Bank of Bulacan Inc. (CRBBI) and Eurocredit Cooperative — have expanded their program to 53 barangays in the city.

Ortiz said it was also noteworthy that the program has 100 percent repayment rate at the end-borrowers level, which shows the success of transforming beneficiaries into income earners and entrepreneurs.

Because of the perfect repayment record, Sikap Buhay is now being adopted by the national government in its livelihood programs all over the country.

The Sikap Buhay program was launched by the Quezon City government and NLSF in April 2002 to help small entrepreneurs in poor communities. Under the program, borrowers become guarantors of other borrowers.

The program had an initial seed capital of P3 million and membership of 248 when was implemented in the city.