CAYETANO: 6.6 SHOULD ERASE 5-6

Senator Alan Cayetano today lamented the plight of the poor as another sector shared with him that they while they are happy for the administration and it's achievement of 6.6% economic growth, they still resort to borrowing using the 5-6 practice because of minimal earnings.

"It's not enough that we have 6.6. We need to erase 5-6," Cayetano declared.

The prevalent "5-6" practice is a loan operation where debtors are charged a hefty 20 percent in interest as opposed to bank rates that average around 6 to 8% or 15% for rural banks.

"It is unfortunate that our people are forced into these circumstances because of they either cannot afford today's high prices or lack jobs or are forced into accepting lower wages," Cayetano said.

Cayetano shared that he had learned from his PiTiK Listening Tour with tricycle drivers today that with the average P600 daily income of tricycle drivers, P200 goes to gas, P200 serves as boundary, only P200 goes to their families."That's not even half of our daily minimum wage," Cayetano observed.

"If tricycle drivers only make this much, it is not surprising that they resort to borrowing from 5-6 operators just to make ends meet," he said.

Cayetano suggested that the government invest in building more and expanding existing cooperatives that can lend to their members using a cheaper interest rate.

He assured the Taguig TODA members that he will be implementing and pushing for measures that translate to better livelihood opportunities for them complementary to those already put in place by the Taguig City government.

Cayetano is on a PiTiK listening tour. "Kinukuha namin ang Pulso at Tinig ng Kababayan para sa Presyo, Trabaho, Kita (We are getting the pulse of the people on issues relating to inflation, employment and wages)," Cayetano said.

Cayetano visited Pritil Market last Tuesday and flower vendors at Dangwa Market last Wednesday. He is set to visit the Murphy Public Market tomorrow, Saturday February 16, to conduct a consultation with the market vendors and consumers in the Quezon City area.

But Cayetano was quick to clarify, "This is not a palengke (market) tour. We will be hearing different sectors as well from agriculture and fishing to industry players, call centers and even OFWs," Cayetano said.

Cayetano is running for re-election as senator under the Nacionalista Party with the Team PNoy coalition.