Philippines’ cooperatives act to stop loan sharks

(March 30, 2010) In the Philippines, the problem of money lending affects the poor and small entrepreneurs. They are often forced to pay exorbitant sums of money to support their activities. To stop this evil, for the past 16 years Assumption multi - purpose cooperatives – AMPC, helps people to combat loan sharks, by granting loans at low interest rates, which is made possible by the creation of a common fund managed by companies.
The initiative is a joint effort between the Assumption Parish of Davao city and businesses in the district. So far, it has about 142 members. In addition to lending money with interest of just 1%, AMPC helps entrepreneurs of the parish in choosing their investments and also enables the poor to get started in the business world. "We are delighted that Ampc involves entrepreneurs in the area,“ said
Fr Elvera Felix, a priest of the parish. With their apostolate they give the poor the opportunity to be part of the business world, thereby improving their living conditions, he said and added “This is one of the many faces of the mission of the Church. "
To date AMPC has a value of approximately 25 thousand Euros. With this money, the association is able to grant loans to those who want to open a business and do not have the money to do so.