The government and Japanese businesses can help thousands of impoverished people in the Philippines by providing funds and business skills to a Filipino bank that extends startup loans to poor women, according to the bank's founder.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='200' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='/images/photos2005/nn20051008f1a.jpg' WIDTH='200' HEIGHT='243'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Aris Alip </B></FONT></TD> </TR> <TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>Aris Alip, founder and managing director of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development –

Mutually Reinforcing Institutions, said the lending arm of the group, CARD Bank, extends small unsecured loans to 152,000 poor women who have families in rural areas of the Philippines.

The loans, which are repaid in small installments, helps borrowers launch businesses in handicrafts, food retailing and farming.

The bank boasts a 99 percent repayment rate, Alip said, noting the loans only go to women because men would tend to spend money on drinking or gambling if their businesses become profitable, while women would use the money solely to better the lives of their families.

But due to the high demand, the bank hopes to increase the number of borrowers to 1 million households using its so-called microcredit approach, Alip said in a recent interview, adding the bank also aims to help borrowers expand their business to create jobs.