Farmers Loaning Program Presented In UN New York

One of the proudest moments in my life as a governance innovation-advocate was to share with other member countries of the United Nations the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) Program which gave farming families access to low interest loans to boost their agricultural production.
The PLEA Program, one of the many innovations in Governance which I conceptualized and implemented during my short stint as Agriculture Secretary, was shared with other countries during the launching of the Decade of Farm Families in the United Nations Headquarters in New York in September of 2018.
Launched in Malimono, Surigao del Norte in June of 2017, the PLEA allowed farmers to avail of loans from P50,000 up to P200,000 with Zero interest and a 6% service fee.
It was anchored on a digital platform which provided accurate information on farm area and location, commodity produced and expected date of harvest.

Farmers were provided Identification Cards which served as the only document they needed to present to be able to avail of the low interest loans.
Shattering age-old beliefs that farmers and fisherfolk do not pay back their loans, the PLEA Program had a 98% repayment rate with the vegetable farmers of Cordillera posting a 100% repayment on their P40-M loan fund.
The PLEA was supposed to be the first step in my dream to establish a Farmers & Fishermen’s Bank where ATM Card-Bearing farmers and fishermen could avail of emergency loans by just using their ATM cards.
While the PLEA Program had been institutionalized by the Department of Agriculture, the dreamed Farmers & Fishermen’s Bank was not realized.
I am not giving up on that dream though and I still pray that within my lifetime, I will see the ascension of a President who will truly understand what needs to be done to support our farmers and fishermen so that they could produce enough food for the country.
#TheDreamWillNeverDie!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!