DA infuses P50M for farmer loans

DEPARTMENT of Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol announced another P50M worth of loans for Cordi farmers.

In 2017, Piñol said the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) was piloted in the Cordilleras with a P46 Million fund aimed to be distributed to local farmers to avail of soft loans.

“The loans can be used to buy new equipment, farm implements and supplies for farmers under the Benguet Agri – Pinoy Trading Center (BAPTC),” added Piñol.

BAPTC chief of operations Dr. Violeta Salda reported during the BAPTC Steering Board Meeting last week there were 292 farmers who availed of the loan program which was enough to sustain 67.55 hectares of active farmlands.

Piñol lauded the 100 percent cooperation and participation of the highland farmers in the program which yielded positive results pushing the agriculture chief to infuse P50M to service more from the province and the region.

The DA PLEA program offers loans for farmers at a two percent per annum rate with an 8-year pay period.

Piñol said the PLEA program is seen to be the answer for the faster delivery of goods which will rid bidding and procurement process of government, giving the power to spend and decide to the farmers as they manage their loans.

The secretary said along with the PLEA program come the seminar for farmers on financial literacy which will teach accounting, liquidation and basic bookkeeping, further empowering farmers to become financial managers.

BAPTC is a project of former DA Secretary Proceso Alcala and President Benigno Aquino envisioned to be the country’s biggest trading center which allows agriculture stakeholders to be ready with the implementation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade.

The P550 million facility is now managed by a Project Steering Committee (PSC) composed of stakeholders and a multispectral group after the DA turned over management of the facility three years ago.

BAPTC is seen to empower farmers to be able to improve their way of living and to halt the dependence to middlemen and disposers.

Piñol said the PLEA program is a precursor to the vision in 2020 that all procurements will now be through financing.