‘Project Drive’ drives through Iloilo

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Project DRIVE (Dagdag Regular Income Via Entrepreneurship), intended to extend micro-financing to the spouses and immediate family members of drivers and conductors of public utility vehicles, will be launched in Iloilo City.

The Philippine Postal Savings Bank, (PPSB) Inc. which spearheads the campaign, is targeting from 60 to 100 participants to attend its launching at Grand Hotel, on April 29, from 2 – 5 in the afternoon.

PPSB Senior Manager Alfredo Tayo III, said Project DRIVE is the Arroyo government’s response to the unpredictable increase in price of oil and gas by providing a safety net to public transport cooperatives or associations.

Tayo said DRIVE is a micro-finance project open to spouses and immediate family members of drivers and conductors of PUVs who are accredited or registered transport cooperatives or associations by the Office of the Transportation Cooperatives (OTC) and the Land Transportation and Franchising Board (LTFRB).

In this Micro-Finance Facility, each transport cooperative or association can avail of interest free and no collateral capital seed fund amounting to P5,000 per beneficiary or a maximum of P150,000 for 30 beneficiaries for a term of one year.

President Gloria Arroyo has approved the release of P500 million for the project taken from VAT proceeds and released by the Budget Department directly to the PPSB.

Tayo said the Transport Cooperative/Association assisted by the OTC and the LTFRB shall establish a criteria for screening eligible spouses and immediate family members of drivers and conductors.

When the first 30 beneficiaries pass the selection criteria, the transport cooperative/association should identify viable livelihood project to be undertaken by each beneficiary including the financing requirement and prepare a list of livelihood projects to be financed by the PPSB.

The cooperative or association shall then prepare the loan documentation and application in accordance with the checklist of requirements of PPSB, and then submit the loan application to the nearest PPSB branch.

The PPSB will have more details on this scheme, as they conduct the information dissemination campaign, Tayo said. (PPSB/PIA6/ESS)

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