THE CITY government on Tuesday started to release the loan assistance to an initial 64 beneficiaries of the stimulus package for micro and small medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Leticia Clemente, head of the city's finance committee and budget officer, said the Baguio Revitalization Actions for a Vibrant Economy-Economic Stimulus Package (BRAVE-ESP) is a zero-interest, soft loan of the city government for 9,209 MSMEs affected by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. It is a non-collateral loan.
She said the assistance is given to MSMEs based in the city which are not recipients of any assistance from any government agency.
Beneficiary businesses must be Filipino-owned, legitimately operating for at least a year as shown in their permit to operate. They must also have a good credit status and not in the "negative list" of borrowers.
"While we want to help, we also protect the fund considering that it is government money owned by the people," she said.
Clemente said the city government allotted PHP100 million for the BRAVE-ESP where MSMEs beneficiaries can avail of a loan from PHP10,000 to PHP50,000, while small enterprises can get a loan amount of PHP50,000 to PHP100,000.
Under the guidelines, loan availers are given a grace period of six to 24 months to allow them to cope with their losses before starting to pay back.
Clemente said those who availed of the loan and promised to pay in 12 months are charged a 6-percent service charge while 8 percent is charged to those who will pay back in more than 12 months.
The city government targetted about 2,900 beneficiaries but only 260 have filed applications to avail of the stimulus package. Out of the number, only 64 qualified.
Based on the record, there are 23,059 registered businesses with permits to operate.
A total of 20,484 are classified as micro, 2,074 small, 438 medium, and 63 categorized as large businesses.
The city gets PHP281.1-million annual revenue from the businesses with a total of PHP155 million contributed by small and micro enterprises or 55 percent of the total revenue.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said as the city's partner for development, they look forward to seeing how the businesses will be able to survive and succeed with the help of the fund provided to them.
"We trust you will be stewards of the fund, not all are privileged to avail. We want to see you regenerate your economic activities," he said.
He urged the other businesses to avail of the stimulus package with more than PHP99-million fund still available.
"We will continue to process until the fund is exhausted," the mayor said. (By Liza Agoot)
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