Senatorial candidate Martin Romualdez believes that the establishment of barangay micro-business enterprises—as well as providing these businesses incentives and benefits—can contribute to economic development and at the same time give opportunities for small business entrepreneurs. He authored House Bill 1036, an act to promote the establishment of micro-business enterprises (otherwise known as MBEs).
According to studies, a lot of barangay micro-business enterprises (BMBEs) remain to be informal, meaning these enterprises have not been woven into the fabric of the economy due to fear of bureaucratic requirements. Unfortunately, this occurs despite the existence of the Barangay Micro-Business Enterprises Act of 2002, a law that ensures the integration of small business enterprises into mainstream economy while at the same time receiving tax breaks, minimum wage exclusions, numerous trainings, and marketing assistance. The Leyte solon has expressed his desire to amend it on account of the estimated 5% decline in registered enterprises, on top of the 4% in micro enterprises, over the years. According to the NSO, the informal sector accounts for almost 30% of the service sector in 2008.
Martin Romualdez engages in small talk with a small entrepreneur selling banana chips in Leyte.
Today, the number of registered Barangay Micro-Business Enterprises remains low. There are around 720,000 potential registrants of small enterprises, but only less than 7,000 are registered under the BMBE Law. Romualdez sees the insufficiency of the existing law, seeing how enterprises that avail of said incentives are low. That said, he pushes for information dissemination, which is to be implemented by the Philippine Information Agency in cooperation with the DILG, DOLE, and DTI to encourage the participation of BMBEs. Moreover, he proposes the creation of micro-business enterprises registry while giving these enterprises the maximum level of five years for certification renewal. This will enable the enterprises to progress with less than PhP3,000,000 worth of assets. Moreover, the five-year renewal limits their access to fiscal incentives, which generates income for the economy.
Not only do MBEs contribute to economic and community development, it also shows “malasakit,” which is Romualdez’s main advocacy in governance. What he wants as much as economic development is to give these entrepreneurs a chance to have their own businesses. He also wants to be able to give them a better chance in developing these small businesses while providing growth and job opportunities for the surrounding communities. A lot of existing companies today, in fact, started out as small-scale business enterprises.
“I am here today as part of my commitment to honor the Romualdez legacy of dedicated public service. Panahon na upang suklian ang malasakit na ibinabahagi ng ating mga kababayan ng mas ibayo pang pagmamahal. Gagawin ko itong personal kong misyon,” Romualdez stressed.