Iloilo City gov’t pledges P2M counterpart for ICCSF
The city government pledged P2 million as its counterpart to the Iloilo City Coopreneurs Surety Fund (ICCSF) to help the operation of the Micro, Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) here.
City Councilor Jose Espinosa III, chair of the committee on commerce and trade of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, announced the city’s commitment in yesterday’s launching of the ICCSF and signing of the memorandum of agreement among its stakeholders.
The city’s counterpart is contained in the memorandum of agreement forged among the city government, 16 cooperatives, Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines and Industrial Guarantee and Loan Fund (IGLF).
Espinosa represented Mayor Jerry Treñas in yesterday’s affair. In his speech, he jokingly said the realization of the credit surety fund will eliminate the “Bombay financial institution.” They are offering “outrageous interests to its creditors,” Espinosa said.
“The people need not borrow money from the Bombay anymore,” the councilor added. Bombay refers to Indian nationals who are engaged money lending business.
In the memorandum of agreement, the city government shall make a counterpart contribution to the Surety Fund equivalent to the total amount invested by the cooperatives but which counterpart contribution to the Surety Fund by the city government shall not exceed P2,000,000.
The LBP and DBP shall also make contribution to the Surety Fund. The IGLF shall also make a counterpart contribution to the Surety Fund of P5 million.
A copy of the memorandum of agreement provided to the media identified the 16 cooperatives in the city which shall invest P100,000 to P300,000 each for the Surety Fund.
In the latter part of the activity, a staff of the BSP said the cooperatives will only pool P1.6 million and not P2,000,000 as indicated in the copy of memorandum of agreement released to the media.
The cooperatives to invest in the Surety Fund are the Binhi Sang Kauswagan Multi-Purpose Cooperative (P100,000); Cooperative Bank of Iloilo (P300,000) Federation of Iloilo City Cooperatives (P300,000); Iloilo City Public Market Development Cooperative (P100,000) and Iloilo City Public School Teachers and Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative (ICPSTEMPC).
Each of these cooperatives will pool P100,000 each for the Surety Fund. They are the Iloilo National High School Faculty and Employees Multi-purpose Cooperative; JBLF-Credit Cooperative; Medicus Multi-Purpose Cooperative; Panay Negros Development Workers Cooperative; St. Joseph The Worker Multi-Purpose Cooperative; West Visayas Federation of Multi-Purpose and Seed Producers Cooperative; Iloilo City Government Employees Credit Cooperative; Association of Differently-Abled Persons in Iloilo Multi-Purpose Cooperative ; Saint Pauls University Iloilo Multi-Purpose Cooperative; and West Visayas College of Science and Technology Multi-Purpose Cooperative