The financing arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, Small Business Corporation (DTI-SBCorp), is offering its new flagship loan program, the ‘Resilient, Innovative, and Sustainable Enterprises, Unleash your Powers (RISE UP), which replaces the expired Bayanihan Covid-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) program of the government for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) badly hit by the persisting pandemic.
At its launch on 6 May, the SBCorp introduced three types of the loan scheme, namely: the RISE UP Turismo meant for Department of Tourism-accredited and non-accredited primary, secondary, and tourism support enterprises registered and operating for at least one year; and RISE UP Multipurpose MSME loan which aims to help sustain the gains of multi-sectoral MSME that have survived the past two years of crisis; and RISE UP Tindahan Loan that is geared to help sustain retail stores, dealers, and distributors that have survived the past two years of the crisis.
For the RISE UP Turismo, the loanable amount is P5 million with the grace period of 24 months with no interest and collateral.
For the RISE UP Multi-purpose MSME loan, one can borrow up to P300,000. Requirements are government-issued identification, barangay business permit, and pictures and videos of the business operation and other corporate documents if applicable.
For above P300,000, borrowers should prepare a government-issued ID and mayor’s business permit, among others.
And for the RISE UP Tindahan, the loanable amount is P300,000 for micro-tindahan, and P5 million for SME Tindahan loans. Grace period is up to 12 months, also with no collateral.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, also the chairperson of the SBCorp Board, said the P7.2-billion loan disbursed to MSME came from the CARES program of SBCorp.
Lopez said the CARES loan, a P1 billion fund with zero-interest launched in 2020, has helped around 42,100 borrowers.
The House of Representatives subsequently allocated P10 billion under the Bayanihan to Recover as One (Bayanihan 2) for the CARES loan.
Records from the SBCorp showed that of the total released funds, P4 billion was disbursed for multi-sectoral MSME, and P4 billion were for tourism-related MSME, while the rest were for mobilization and operating expenses in rolling out the loan facility.
Lopez noted that loans under the multi-sectoral MSME were fully utilized while the facility for the tourism sector was underutilized since there was a reluctance to borrow money even at zero-interest rates due to low operating capacity.
“Currently, some P2.7 billion is still available for MSME in the tourism sector,” Lopez said.