TUAO, Cagayan – Ginalyn Joaquin always dreamt of running her own retail store,
similar to the ‘sari-sari store’ her mother used to own when she was a child. But
having enough resources to pursue this dream proved to be difficult as her monthly
salary was barely enough to make ends meet for the needs of her family.
Working as a full-time employee at a sugar milling company, Ginalyn’s salary was
just enough to cover their family’s daily living expenses. And when her daughter
contracted a serious illness and needed medical care, Ginalyn was forced to look for
additional sources of income to afford the health care costs.
While keeping her day job, Ginalyn started buying sugar from her employer, which
she repacked in smaller amounts and sold to her neighbors. This retail initiative soon
evolved into a ‘rolling store’ aboard a tricycle, wherein she sold other essential
grocery items across town, including the neighboring municipality of Piat.
Through hard work, Ginalyn was able to pay for her daughter’s health care and
eventually, was financially stable to resign from her day job and focus on her store.
Ginalyn’s business—JP’s Enterprises—continued to grow and was tapped by a noodle
brand as an official distributor in the province. However, this required additional
working capital, which she did not have at that time.
Ginalyn then turned to the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) for credit
assistance amounting to P30 million under the Emerging Female-Initiated Livelihood
and Investment Projects via INclusive Financing to Accelerate Entrepreneurial
Growth (FILIPINA) Lending Program, to finance the working capital for JP’s
Enterprises.
The LANDBANK loan helped Ginalyn expand her business into a full grocery store
and become a leading supplier of grocery items in Cagayan, catering to the towns of
Tuao, Piat, Sanchez-Mira and Santo Niño, as well as the municipalities of Kabugao
and Conner in the province of Apayao. It was also able to generate employment for
around 102 locals, a significant increase from the initial 2 workers Ginalyn hired for
her previous rolling store.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the grocery store remained open to service
customers, and was even tapped by local government units in the province as a
supplier of relief goods.
“Nagpapasalamat ako sa LANDBANK sa pagkakaroon ng tiwala sa akin at sa
business ko. Malaking tulong ang pagkakaroon nila ng programa na sumusuporta sa
mga babaeng negosyante tulad ko,” said Ginalyn.
Through the Emerging FILIPINA Lending Program, LANDBANK aims to support and
empower female entrepreneurs to pursue business ventures such as traditional
trade, e-commerce business and food services activities, among others.
The Program can finance the working capital, construction or renovation of buildings
and facilities related to business operations, and financing of purchase orders from
the borrower’s clients. For cooperatives and partner financial institutions,
rediscounting and on-lending activities may also be financed.
Eligible borrowers include registered micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
majority-owned by women or with majority of its top management, including the
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), composed of women. They may borrow up to 80% of
the actual project cost and 85% for rediscounting and on-lending activities.
Short-term loans and term loans for permanent working capital are payable up to
one (1) year and five (5) years, respectively, while term loans for fixed assets and
construction of facilities are payable up to ten (10) years. An interest rate of 5% per
year shall apply, fixed for the first three (3) years and subject to repricing thereafter.
As of end-June 2022, LANDBANK has extended P37.8 million to support five
borrowers under the Emerging FILIPINA Lending Program, with the Bank’s
outstanding loans to MSMEs totaling P46.6 billion to more than 6,000 borrowers.
Through the years, LANDBANK has grown into one of the leading universal banks in
the country, while remaining faithful to its social mandate to promote inclusive and
sustainable development.
On 8 August 2022, the state-run Bank celebrated its 59th anniversary, representing
almost six decades of service to the nation.
