FILE PHOTO: Sorsogon Gov. Francis “Chiz” Escudero. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines – The government should look into ways to expedite the disbursement of billions of underutilized COVID-19 aid to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), Sorsogon governor Francis Escudero said Monday.
“Fighting red tape is the perpetual revolution. Cut, cut, cut. It is like a marathon. No record is static, it has to be broken,” Escudero, who previously chaired the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions, and currencies, said in a statement.
“Hindi pwede ang 33 days to start a business and 120 days to deal with construction permits, per a World Bank study,” he added.
Escudero stated that the government needs to figure out how to ensure that MSMEs get the help they need, otherwise, there is no way to revive the economy.
“Bakit? Dahil 99.5 percent of businesses and establishments in the country are MSMEs. They employ 63% of labor and account for 40% of our gross domestic product. They are not a subsector of the economy—they are the economy,” Escudero said.
“Kailangan natin silang tutukan dahil kapag nakabangon sila, 99 percent din ng ating ekonomiya ang makakabangon, 99 percent din ang babalik na mga trabahong nawala,” he added.
(We need to focus on them because when they recover, 99 percent of our economy will recover, 99 percent of lost jobs will return.)
Citing a Commission on Audit (COA) report, Escudero emphasized only P4.09 billion, or 45 percent of the P9.08 billion budget for the COVID-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) Program, has been released as of June 30, 2021.
The funds will be distributed as zero-interest, collateral-free loans to MSMEs stricken by the pandemic.
The COA report also included that 4,378 or 9.12% had their applications canceled due to the length of the process and lack of updates on the status of their loan applications, Escudero said.
According to Escudero, based on a survey conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry in June 2021, about 10% of MSMEs had closed, 46% were partially operational, and 44% were fully operational due to the pandemic.
In the same timeframe, 765,454 workers were displaced, down from 1.4 million, according to the study, which included 33,145 respondents. — Jericho Zafra, INQUIRER.net trainee
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