Former Secretary of National Defense and senatorial candidate Gilbert (GIBO) Teodoro bats for the easing of requirements and processes in accessing loans for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in government banks such as the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.

Gibo Teodoro, a former Tarlac congressman, said one of the challenges for MSMEs in getting credit is the cumbersome requirements and processes that discourage small-scale businesses to tap financial institutions.

“Aside from lower interest rates, it is best if our state-owned banks will be able to streamline the requirements and lending processes, especially for MSMEs that were heavily affected by the pandemic,” Gibo Teodoro said.

Gibo Teodoro cited that the financing arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, Small Business Corporation, was able to cut interest rates by up to zero and relax the requirements for MSME borrowers for its Covid-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) program. He said that this could be adopted by the government banks.

“Our MSMEs have been struggling a lot during the pandemic. Relaxing the lending rules for them will help them recover their livelihood and regenerate jobs that were lost during the pandemic,” the senatorial candidate added.