President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night made an order to save the struggling poor Filipino vendors from lenders who impose unreasonable interest rate. Department of Agriculture Manny Piñol said the President ordered “the arrest and deportation of foreigners involved in the usurious “5-6″ money lending scheme.”
“They are violating Philippine laws by indulging in a money-making business without the necessary permits,” President Duterte said.
According to the Agri chief, President Duterte during the Cabinet meeting last night asked Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr. to inform the Indian Ambassador of his decision to stop the usurious lending scheme in the Philippines.
Piñol also noted that at the same time, President Duterte announced the allocation of an initial P1-B for a micro-lending program to provide loans for small business capitals to be handled by the Dept. of Trade and Industry.
“Sec. Lopez said DTI has already designed a scheme on how to extend soft loans to small businessmen with an interest of 20% every year, payable in one year,” Piñol said.