Imee calls for stop to layoffs; urges expansion of payroll aid for MSMEs

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Imee Marcos on Wednesday urged the national government to put a stop to layoffs and to expand the payroll beyond the Small Business Wage Subsidy program.

Marcos said the expansion to the national government’s SBWS would prevent micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from laying off its workers or from folding up entirely during the lockdown period that was put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.

In a statement sent from her office, Marcos said that the current SBWS budget of P51 billion leaves 4.6 million workers in MSMEs vulnerable to getting laid off, especially in sectors that the lockdown greatly affected and these include professions on trade, transportation, accommodation and food, manufacturing, and construction.

“The true engines of the economy are the daily wage earners and rank-and-file employees,” said Marco. “Greater payroll subsidies mean giving MSMEs a greater chance of survival.”

To cover all potential beneficiaries, Marcos said that the government would need almost P63 billion in the first month alone if subsidies are computed at 75 percent of the average monthly wage, which is pegged at P18,108 in the last Occupational Wages Survey in 2-18.

Marcos, the chair of the Senate committee on economic affairs, estimated that the government could subsidize three-quarters of MSME payrolls while the enhanced community quarantine is in place.

The Department of Finance reported that 436,000 small businesses had closed since mid-March when the ECQ was imposed in Luzon and some areas in Visayas and Mindanao.

“We are only in the early stages of a global economic crisis due to COVID-19,” said Marcos. “The government must find more solutions to craft a long-term plan for economic recovery,” said Marcos.

She also proposed that zero-tariff rates be temporarily applied to imports of essential raw materials that could help cut company costs and stabilize the price of goods.