OWWA members can borrow from P2-B fund for livelihood

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) announced that the P2-billion reintegration loan program administered by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is available to both active and former members of OWWA who want to start or expand their small and medium business projects.

OWWA administrator Carmelita Dimzon is encouraging OFWs to attend daily briefings about the loan program at OWWA and its regional offices.

“By running their own enterprises, OFWs and their families would be able to control their own financial destinies,” Dimzon said. “Projects could be about supplying LPG gas to neighborhood, building lodging rooms for rent, transporting passengers, expanding a gym, or opening a dental clinic or an internet café.”

The hourly briefings start at 9 a.m. from Monday to Friday at the OWWA-NCR office in Pasay City . After each briefing, participants who want to start the loan application stage may fill up information sheets. The briefings would serve the need of borrowers to know more about the terms of the loan program.

“Because of its social impact context, this loan program has the lowest interest rates in the market at 7.5 per cent per annum,” the administrator said. ”It can be paid in 5 years, with a grace period of 2 years to enable the OFW-entrepreneur to focus on making his project work. During the grace period or start-up phase, the worker-entrepreneur will not be under intense pressure to meet the monthly amortizations.”

The comprehensive reintegration loan program was launched by President Aquino during the Migrant Workers Day last June 7. His main objective was for OFWs and their families to depend less on remittances as source of income. He preferred that Filipinos develop and sustain local enterprises to stay home with their families and no longer leave for work abroad.

“DBP and Landbank committed to treat loan applications in a social lending context,” Dimzon said. “Aside from the soft interest rates and long grace period, the banks would offer loan sizes from P300,000 to P2 million. The banks have dropped the use of conduit institutions to save borrowers on administrative costs.”

She said the fund is recyclable. As borrowers repay their loans, the banks turn around and lend to other OFWs.

Loan applicants would be assisted by the OWWA and the National Reintegration Center for OFWs, in putting together market studies to support loan applications, Dimzon said. The applications would then be endorsed to the two banks for credit evaluation. Mina Diaz, Daily Tribune