OTOP for OFW
 09 Oct. 2007

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THE OTOP Pride of the Regions Showcase at the Ugnayan Hall of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) in Makati City last week was a reunion of sorts.

For Trade Undersecretary Carissa Cruz-Evangelista, backyard hobbyist turned houseware entrepreneur Estella Nuqui, DBP Senior Vice President Corazon Conde, the exhibitors, and most especially for me, it was another opportunity for the OTOP and MSME constituency to regroup and stay in touch. MSME, of course, is Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, over which I had been given oversight by the President at the start of this year.

OTOP is the One Town, One Product project, and it is to Usec. Carissa’s credit that it has made so much headway in many fronts. OTOP allows our towns to develop local industries on the basis of their UVP, or Unique Value Proposition.

In an earlier column (Think Global, Act Local, MB, February 20, 2007), we cited OTOP notables like the Cornik of Ilocos, the Parol of Pampanga, Otap and Guitar of Cebu, the Durian of Davao, to name some. At the DBP Ugnayan Showcase, we had Deli de Lata from Cavite; Longganiza, Chorizo and Pancit Habhab from Lucban in Quezon; scented candles from Laguna; Segundina’s bibingka from Tanauan, Batangas; Annie’s Espasol from Los Baños; and shoes from Liliw, in Laguna. There was hardly any elbow room at the Ugnayan Hall.

On the same occasion, DBP launched a special credit facility for LGUs, OFWs and MSMEs, "to support the national government’s poverty alleviation efforts through job and income generation".

According to Ms. Conde, DBP has set aside as much as R2 Billion for this credit window. A flattering sidelight was the revelation that the bank started looking at OTOP and MSME in the same context as OFWs after our OTOP column in February.

Under the DBP program, existing or OTOP projects or income-generating activities of OFWs will qualify for financing provided endorsed by the National Reintegration Center for those who are landbased and by DBP partner agencies like Magsaysay Maritime and Nippon Yusen Kaisam for sea-based OFWs.

MSMEs, on the other hand, need to get the endorsement of the DTI Regional Operations Group, to make sure the Project is aligned with OTOP. Even LGUs can avail of this facility.

Eligible for loan purposes are all project-related expenditures for MSMEs, common service facilities for LGU’s (like roads and markets or OTOP display centers), and also for relending to DTI-assisted OTOP entrepreneurs.

For the 10-year capital expense loan, a three-year grace period is allowed.

Early this year, according to Ms. Conde, DBP’s Small and Medium Enterprises Department was in search of a centerpiece program. That search ended with OTOP. And it has since become the Bank’s mission to breathe more life to our MSMEs, to give them a grasp greater than their reach.

At one of the morning’s highlights, when we presented the first loan to Estella Nuqui of CD Handicraft, who transformed her backyard hobby of making handicraft houseware and home décor from polyresin and fiberglass into a thriving export business, I could not help but rue the time, money and opportunity we waste in too much politicking.

But there is hope. As I make my MSME rounds, I see increasingly growing members of Estella Nuqui’s who value hard work, believe in themselves, and have faith in entrepreneurship.

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