MANILA, Philippines – The Pasig City government is offering “small loans” to unemployed residents to help them find work or start a business, Mayor Vico Sotto said on Friday, July 10.

The local government formally launched the program Tulong at Pampuhunang Ayuda para sa Taga-Pasig (TAPAT), which Sotto described as “a small loans program for economic recovery” of residents put out of work by the coronavirus pandemic. (READ: In Pasig, fighting corruption yields cash aid for the people)

The program includes 3 types of loans:

• Balik Negosyo (Back to Business), which lends P10,000 to business owners who need assistance to adapt their establishments to the realities of the pandemic. Sotto cited the need for plastic dividers as an example.
• Bagong Negosyo (New Business), which lends P10,000 to unemployed residents who want to start a small business.
• Balik Trabaho (Back to Work), which lends P5,000 to job seekers, to help with their requirements and transportation expenses.

With a total funding allotment of P200 million, TAPAT can take on 20,000 to 40,000 beneficiaries depending on which loan types they avail of, Sotto said on his official social media pages.

Beneficiaries may pay on installment on the second year after they take out the loan at no interest. Late payments – those made beyond two years – will carry 3% interest.

The city government will accept applications online. Those who need help filing or processing their application may visit the TAPAT Help Desk at the Pasig City Hall’s Career Center inside the GAD Compound, the mayor added.

Sotto strongly encourages online applications to keep residents safe from the coronavirus.

The loan program adds to several other social welfare projects by Pasig City to help tide residents over the pandemic.

Other projects include the supplemental emergency subsidy of P8,000 for every resident family not included in the national government’s cash aid program, a P3,000 grant for public transport drivers and market sellers displaced by the pandemic, and food packs and vouchers for poor families.

The city government will also provide each of its 138,000 public school and 3,500 college students with either a tablet or laptop as the education system shifts to distance learning when the school year starts in August. – Rappler.com