Las Piñas Lone District Rep. Camille Villar today called on Filipino consumers to buy local and support small businesses as she urged the government to simplify loan procedures aimed at helping micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) at this time of pandemic.
During the recent virtual meeting of the House committee on micro, small and medium enterprise development about existing credit and loan facilities for MSMEs, Villar emphasized the importance of loan facilities of government agencies, in particular the crucial role of Small Business Corp. (SB Corp.), the financing arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, in assisting entrepreneurs.
“The role of SB Corp. is very important in jumpstarting our economy because more than 95% of businesses in the Philippines are MSMEs so we really need to help them. I believe they are the most affected,” said Villar, vice-chair of the House panel.
Rep. Villar noted the MSME’s size individually in terms of operations, capital, and employment puts them at high risk during economic adversities. And thus, the lawmaker called on consumers to realize the impact that buying and supporting local entrepreneurs has on communities and our kababayans.
Villar suggested that SB Corp., along with LandBank and Development Bank of the Philippines, should disseminate information to the local level and lessen documentary requirements to potential borrowers to help the respective constituents of lawmakers avail of the loan facility.
“With regard to disseminating information, parang hindi masyadong maganda ‘yung awareness about this program which is very helpful sana to our constituents,” Villar stressed.
Villar suggested strengthening coordination between SB Corp. and lawmakers in order that the latter could also disseminate information to their constituents about the aid program so that more small enterprises can avail of the program.
“We have to make sure that the funds are properly distributed,” added Villar adding that encouraging and supporting local small entrepreneurs will give them the much-needed boost as they struggle to cope with the health crisis.
Recently, SB Corp. announced that it will open a loan facility called the Enterprise Rehabilitation Financing-Pondo para sa Pagbabago at Pag-Asenso, to affected MSMEs.
Under the program, firms with asset size of not more than P3 million may borrow between P10,000 and P200,000 while those with assets of up to P10 million may borrow up to P500,000.
Villar, for her part, recognized the MSME sector as an important driver of the Philippine economy and a major contributor for the country’s growing labor force. In 2019, 99.56% of establishments in the Philippines were MSMEs or a total of 1.42 million enterprises. Nearly seven out of 10 employed work in the MSME sector.
Due to the coronavirus, large-scale community quarantines, travel restrictions, and social-distancing measures were implemented by the national and local governments which drove a sharp fall in consumer and business spending and affected small businesses and forced some to shut down.
The Las Piñas representative pointed out that small entrepreneurs deserve the help they needed as they do not have the means to survive during these trying times.
With the availability of aid, it will keep the sector afloat and help retain their workforce, said Villar.
