The Philippine Support Association (PSA{{Citation needed, date=July 2011) is a group that aims to raise credit for the poor in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
so that they can break free of the
poverty trap
In economics, a cycle of poverty or poverty trap is caused by self-reinforcing mechanisms that cause poverty, once it exists, to persist unless there is outside intervention. It can persist across generations, and when applied to developing count ...
. It supports
microfinance
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...
.
History
The Philippine Support Association was registered on 12 November 2007 under its full name Oikocredit Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society (EDCS) Philippine Support Association Inc. The group's stated purpose is "to support and participate in the promotion of global justice by encouraging/challenging people, churches and others to share their resources through socially responsible investments and by empowering disadvantaged people with credit."
Aims and objectives
The aims and objectives of the association are essentially to create more opportunities for people’s socio-economic development. It facilitates long-term loans, loan guarantees and investments for
cooperatives
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
and socially-orientated groups. It aims to promote;
#Cooperation in development by mobilizing financial resources for economic growth consistent with social justice and self- reliance.
#Pooling of financial and creative resources for cooperative enterprises.
#Cooperative tie-ups to enable individual cooperative members to become active, socially secure, and economically empowered community members.
Membership
Currently membership are shareholders who purchase shares at $/E200 a share. Shareholders are not limited to individuals and by far the biggest shareholders are congregations and schools. Around 16 individuals, 22 schools and congregations, and several parish own shares. The association is a member of the
Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society (EDCS).
Facts and figures
Of the 36 Philippine Support Association supports Oikocredit projects in the Philippines. Oikocredit active in the Philippines the majority are straight microfinance loans (67%), with the remainder being entirely devoted to loans for production (33%). Of this 33% 3 projects (8%) are loans to sugar producers, 2 projects (6%) each for bamboo, housing and food projects, and 1 project (3%) to reforestation, marketing, and livestock projects.
The majority of the projects (16) are located in
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
region (44%). the
Visayas
The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao ...
region has 14 projects running (39%) and Mindanao has 9 projects representing 17% of the total.
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
once had its own satellite office (meaning the Philippines would have had two offices as well as the regional office) but was forced to close. There are difficulties in microfinancing in Mindanao, but Oikocredit and the association are seeking to overcome these issues to continue their work on poverty reduction.
The role of the association in these loans is fairly simple, it seeks to raise funds to fund Oikocredit's work in the Philippines. There is no shortage of demand and the more money it can raise the more it can help.
Cooperatives in the Philippines