Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara on Thursday pressed the Duterte administration to extend “more support” for micro, small and medium enterprises, to enable these to “fulfill a critical role in the country’s economic boom.”
Angara, Senate Ways and Means Committee chairman, pointed out that MSMEs comprise over 99 percent of business enterprises operating across the country with close to 5 million people or 63 percent of jobs created in 2017, adding that this makes it “one of the key drivers of economic growth.”
In a news statement, Angara asserted the importance of government support for MSMEs during an event organized by Go Negosyo, at Lucky Chinatown in Manila, saying, “It is essential for the government to help MSMEs that comprise a bigger part of the economy nowadays,” he said.
The senator was apparently referring to the sizeable contribution of MSMEs to the country’s growth.
“This means your sector has contributed a lot to the economic advancement of our nation, which is why the government should give attention and extend support to MSMEs,” saidAngara, who is running for reelection in the 2019 midterm polls.
At the same time, Angara acknowledged the Duterte administration’s determination to help small businesses with the enactment of several pro-MSME laws, some of which the he pushed and supported in the Senate.
Angara affirmed that foremost among these laws is Republic Act 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018, aimed at improving the overall business environment in the country by making the process of putting up and running a business easier and more efficient.
He added: “We have enacted the Ease of Doing Business Act that ensures the elimination of graft and red tape. This clearly shows of the Duterte administration’s support to MSMEs.”
Angara assured the business sector that it would now be easy to secure business permits, pay taxes and transact with government. “It’s now much easier and faster to secure business permits,” he said.
The senator earlier pushed for the lowering of the income tax rate to 25 percent, from the high of 32 percent and the exemption of workers whose annual earning is P250,000 or below from income tax payment. The income tax rate reduction and tax exemption resulted in some P103 billion in savings on the part of the workers, data from the Department of Finance covering the first three quarters of 2018 showed.
Moreover, Angara also pressed for the adjustment of the value-added tax threshold to P3 million from P1.9 million in order to protect not only poor and low-income Filipinos but also MSMEs, as it effectively exempts the sale of goods and services of marginal establishments from VAT.