Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. awarded checks to beneficiaries who trooped to City Hall for the initial capital of livelihood projects under the city government’s Puhunang Pangkaunlaran ng Sikap Buhay (PPSB).
The mayor told beneficiaries that the money was not a dole-out, but a seed capital for their businesses and must be paid as soon as they start making profits from their small businesses.
"This first step is to help the poor avail themselves of the empowerment benefit, from which they can create their own livelihood," Belmonte said.
The Sikap Buhay program of the city government was launched in April 2002 with 248 members and an initial capital of P3 million from the National Livelihood Support Fund, with conduit Rural Bank of Bulacan responsible for the collection of payments.
Today, Sikap Buhay has over 8,300 members and another 6,200 are active or applying for new loans.
Sikap Buhay is a Grameen-type system of micro-financing, wherein no collateral is needed because the borrowers themselves, who are organized into groups of five or six, act as co-guarantors. – Perseus Echeminada