MICROCAPITAL STORY: Philippines Government Creates Microfinance Initiatives to Assist Large Numbers of “Financial Crisis Affected” Overseas Filipino Workers

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines, the People’s Credit and Finance Corp., and a representative from Pasig City signed a memorandum of agreement to grant loans of P20 million (USD 422 thousand) to overseas Filipino workers and their families who are also residents of Pasig City. The funds will come from the DFA’s savings. Applicants must apply to their district office and, if they meet the requirements, will be “endorsed” by the People’s Credit and Finance Corporation to their accredited microfinance institutions. While the MFIs will eventually lend them the funds and collect payments for the loan, specific implementing rules and regulations that have not yet been formulated will be designed for this initiative.

This news comes less than one week after it was reported in The Philippine Star that the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced due to the current crisis is increasing, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The Labor Secretary recorded 946 displaced workers from Taiwan alone, or which 103 returned home on December 2. According to OFW Online, OFWs presently comprise a workforce of 747 thousand globally, where land based workers total 559 thousand and sea based workers total 188 thousand. As of June 2000, OFWs remitted USD 5.7 billion to the Philippines which, in 2000, had a total labor force of 30.6 million and an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Anthony Golez has said that various government agencies, including Departments of Labor and Employment (DOLE): Trade and Industry; Social Welfare and Development, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), have also created various microfinance programs for overseas Filipino workers who have lost their jobs due to the current financial crisis. The details of these initiatives were not available, but they will pertain only to OFWs who have lost their jobs as a result of the financial crisis, not those whose contracts have ended as scheduled.

The People’s Credit and Finance Corporation (PCFC) was registered in 1995 after a memorandum was issued directing LandBank and the Presidential Commission to Fight Poverty (PCFP) to establish a PCFC with an authority to operate as a finance company. PCFC works with seven MFIs throughout the Philippines. In 2007, PCFC’s assets totalled P3.5 billion (USD 73.8 million).

By Lori Curtis, Research Assistant

Additional Sources:

ABS-CBN News: “Gov’t sets programs for OFWs displaced by financial crisis

Global Nation: “P20 M for microfinance of Pasig OFWs, kin

The People’s Credit and Finance Corporation: “Home

The Philippine Star: “DOLE: Displaced OFWs on the rise

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  1. […] MicroCapital story, December 16, 2008, “Philippines Government Creates Microfinance Initiative to Assist Large Numbers of Financial Crisis Affected Overseas Filipino Workers,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-philippines-government-creates-microfinance-initiativ… […]

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