Remonde says: Micro-enterprises generate  more than 400T jobs in CV

More than 400,000 new jobs have been generated by the micro-enterprises in Central Visayas for the past four years.

This was revealed yesterday by Presidential Management Staff director general Cerge M. Remonde who attended the 10th general assembly of the Visayas Cooperative Central Fund Federation (VCCFF) yesterday in Lapu-Lapu City on behalf of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Remonde said the micro-enterprises have the greatest potential to create additional jobs.

According to Remonde, the development of micro and small and medium enterprises have been rising steadily in the Visayas with the micro-enterprises showing the biggest growth.

He said that micro-lending strengthens the capacity of the marginalized groups to engage in productive enterprises, expressing hope that this year, more jobs will be generated in Central Visayas.

From January to February this year, Remonde said a total of P2.56 billion was released to 114,896 active microfinance clients in the region, creating close to 56,000 new jobs.

Remonde also cited the huge contribution made by the VCCFF, which provided a total of P526.9 million loans to over 150 cooperatives, benefiting 300,000 members and around one million individual borrowers.

Microfinance, according to Remonde, is the cornerstone of the national government’s fight against poverty and the mainline of the cooperative federation.

He also lauded the new program initiated by the cooperative federation called Persons with Disabilities in Entrepreneurship (PWDE). He said the program supports the national efforts to provide persons with disabilities with better opportunities to increase their self-worth and improve their incomes.

   A separate program run by the Department of Social Welfare and Development has set aside P43 million for this year’s micro-lending to be released to clients through non-governmental organizations and cooperatives.

Remonde said that the Arroyo administration’s prime mission is to reduce poverty. Jobs, food on the table, education for children and basic health services are the national government topmost priorities, he said.

He added that they regard cooperatives as major players in organizing the marginalized into strong groups that can have better access to basic services. — Jose P. Sollano/LPM