Small Business Corporation (SB Corp.), the financing arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, has released part of the over PHP100-million loan fund allocation for the egg and tourism industries in Bantayan Island in Cebu province, according to The Philippine Star, citing a report in The Freeman.

SB Corp. chairman and chief executive officer, Ramon M. Quesada, said a chunk of the loan assistance budget has already been released to identified operators of egg farms and resorts in the island, while other applications are still being processed and will soon be released.

Mr Quesada said SB Corp. is working closely with the DTI regional office to assist them in selecting qualified beneficiaries of the direct lending purposely designed for the major industries on the island that had been severely affected by the super typhoon Yolanda in November last year.

The super typhoon wiped out 80 per cent of the egg producing farms in Bantayan, which used to produce an average of 1.3 million eggs a day.

Quesada said SB Corporation has already identified at least 50 poultry operators in Bantayan, specifically medium, small and micro players.

The agency, he said, is giving between PHP700,000 and PHP5 million in credit to qualified applicants.

SB Corp. is giving single-digit interest rates for the loan funds and transactions are done directly with the beneficiaries

Aside from the poultry farmers, The Philippines Star reports that SB Corp. is also assisting several resorts in Bantayan.