EXPORTERS are pleading with lawmakers to approve within May the multibillion-peso stimulus bill filed in Congress, citing the desperate need for a rescue for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) after two months of Covid-induced lockdowns disrupted operations.
In a letter last week, the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) asked legislators to pass the Philippine Economic Stimulus Act (PESA) bill within a month. The measure, with a proposed funding of P485 billion, seeks to inject cash in various sectors, including to MSMEs, to rejuvenate the economy in the lockdown aftermath.
“Because of the urgent nature and impact of this bill, we strongly call for the bill to be passed in a month’s time especially for the benefit of our MSMEs and their stakeholders, which account for some 60 percent of the country’s employment and 30 percent of our GDP,” read the letter mailed to the principal authors of the measure.
Further, Philexport detailed in the letter its reservations on the PESA bill, and proposed several changes to it intended to expand its coverage. For one, the group is disputing the measure’s seeming concentration of assistance to firms based in Luzon, where the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has been in place since mid-March.
Reservations
It argued that the ECQ may not be implemented in Visayas and Mindanao but its effects are felt there, as business operations in these islands are likely linked to the supply chains in Luzon.
Likewise, Philexport said that Negosyo Centers should be allowed to assess loan applications of MSMEs, as they are located across the country and can, therefore, reach firms in rural areas. The Small Business (SB) Corp., tasked to handle the PESA bill’s P20-billion funding for MSME lending, is apparently not present in all provinces.
In anticipation of the large number of MSMEs that will borrow from the government, Philexport recommended that the loans be distributed through bank transfers to reduce the movement of people and to facilitate the release.
Echoing the concern raised by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) last week, Philexport proposed that the P10-billion allocation for loans to farmers and fishermen be doubled. Increasing the amount will ensure that the issues of the agriculture sector on productivity, technology and climate change are considered, it argued.
Farmers, fishermen
In a statement, the PCCI called on lawmakers to tweak the current version of the PESA bill and increase the allocation for loans of farmers and fishermen.
Doing so, PCCI President Benedicto V. Yujuico explained, will ensure a sufficient budget is available to cover for the agriculture sector’s needs. Food producers, he noted, are already reeling from the income losses they suffered due to logistical barriers that come with the ECQ implemented in the whole of Luzon.
He said the lockdown restrictions in effect are making it difficult for goods, including perishable items, to be transported to markets. The national government has repeatedly admonished local government units against arbitrarily blockading the transport of produce, but even with relaxed checkpoints in major highways, farmers have said the restrictions in the community level make transporting goods a tough chore.
“Highly perishable produce have found it difficult to move their way into markets such that they have to be thrown away,” Yujuico added. “The downstream industries such as food processing, retailing and restaurants are similarly impacted, having to operate only partially, if at all.”
Also, Philexport suggested adding a provision to the PESA bill requiring all state agencies to do their part in hastening the computerization of their functions, particularly for purposes of trade facilitation, service continuity and ease of doing business.
The PESA bill is projected by government economists to swell the country’s budget deficit to 7 percent of GDP this year. The deficit target for 2020 is around P1 trillion, or about 5.3 percent of GDP, but the PESA bill is seen to add at least 2 percent.
The PESA bill, authored by Reps. Joey S. Salceda of Albay, Stella Luz A. Quimbo of Marikina and Sharon S. Garin of AAMBIS-OWA Party-list, is now awaiting deliberations in the House of Representatives.
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