BAGUIO CITY – More or less 2,000 heavily-impacted micro and small businesses in the city will initially benefit from the implementation of the city government’s stimulus package rolled out on July 1, 2020.
City Treasurer Alex Cabarrubias said there were some 9,000 micro and small businesses initially identified qualified by the city to avail of the limited loan but because of the limited funds, more or less 2,000 heavily impacted businesses can only be granted the same.
He pointed out applications will be treated on a first come, first serve basis with processing taking at least 5 days prior to the issuance of the check on the amount of the loan approved for a certain business.
The city treasurer disclosed that after the city shall have received and pre-evaluated the application, this will be forwarded to the Small Business Corporation (SBC), an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which will process the said application within four days before being returned to the city for the issuance of the check that will take a single day.
Based on the guidelines of the Baguio Revitalization Action for a Vibrant Economy – Economic Stimulus Package (BRAVE-ESP), microbusiness can avail of a loan up to P50,000 while small businesses can borrow as much as P100,000 with no interest and payable in 24 months with a grace period of six months.
However, a six percent service fee shall be deducted from loans that will be paid in 12 months while a service fee of 8 percent will be assessed on loans that will be paid above 12 months.
Cabarrubias stated any default in the payment of the assessed monthly amortization will be charged a 0.5 percent penalty that will accrue to the city while the service charges will be given to the SBC as payment for its services in the processing of the loans.
According to him, the stimulus package will be a continuing program of the city as whatever payments that will be remitted by the borrowers will be offered to micro and small businesses who still need the same to revitalize their operations.
Earlier, the local government earmarked some P100 million from the funds that were made available for the city’s anti-Corona Virus Disease 2019 operations as its stimulus package to help heavily impacted businesses recover from the slump in the economy negatively impacted by the implementation of the community quarantine.
Cabarrubias cited that among the businesses qualified to avail of the city’s stimulus package are those that ceased operations during the enforcement of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and are still unable to operate even under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) that caused their capital to be depleted.
He said that the stimulus package will only be available depending on the disposal of the available funds although the program was earlier projected to be implemented for two months.
By Dexter A. See
Photo by Armando M. Bolislis
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