ONLY A handful of stakeholders have tapped the financial aid programs made available to them under the Bayanihan 2 Law.
In a press briefing Tuesday, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said the joint Department of Tourism (DOT) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) assistance program has been tapped by 77,724 recipients, who received P388.62 million as of January 7, 2021. Under Bayanihan 2, some P3 billion in funds were allotted for this purpose, with beneficiaries receiving P5,000 each. Current disbursements are just 13 percent of total funds allocated.
She also reported the Small Business Guarantee Corp. (SB Corp.) has processed 415 loan applications amounting to some P247.52 million as of December 29, 2020. She didn’t say how many loan applications were actually approved, though. Bayanihan 2 set aside a P6-billion budget for working capital loans of the tourism sector; the loans are collateral-free and carry a zero-interest rate. About 10,000 tourism enterprises have been eyed as beneficiaries in this program.
“The DOT is really thankful to Congress for the funds extended [to] the tourism sector. These facilities will mean a lot for affected tourism workforce who have been out of work or given alternative work schemes. We hope to see businesses resuscitated, especially the MSMEs [micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises],” said Romulo Puyat.
The DOT, along with several stakeholders’ groups fought for the massive financial aid to be extended to their sector, which has seen closures and an incredible loss of income due to international travel restrictions, instead of funds being allocated for infrastructure projects. (See, “Tourism sector loses P190 billion in March-July,” in the BusinessMirror, August 13, 2020.)
No idea
The agency has estimated some 4.8 million tourism workers are either jobless or only partially working because of Covid-imposed travel restrictions. As such, it estimated that some P80 billion in financial assistance will be needed to jump-start the recovery of the tourism sector. As of December 15, 2020, the DOT has accredited 8,906 tourism enterprises, up by 11.98 percent from 2019.
The DOT, however, appears clueless on the possible constraints for the poor availment of the financial aid. DOT Undersecretary and Spokesman Benito C. Bengzon Jr. told the BusinessMirror in a Viber message, “It’s best to ask the private sector if they think there are constraints [in the applications for the aid].”
But he said, “On [loans] from SB Corp, I just updated the regional offices on the take-up of working capital loans and appealed to them to reach out to their stakeholders and encourage them to use the facility.”
With respect to the DOT-DOLE program, he said, “Assistant Secretary Rica [C. Bueno] is discussing with her counterparts to check if those previously granted assistance in the past programs can also be eligible under Bayanihan 2.”
In a separate interview, Tourism Congress of the Philippines President Jose C. Clemente said because the DOT-DOLE program excluded past beneficiaries of Covid financial assistance programs under Bayanihan 1, “that’s already a good-sized number of possible beneficiaries [under Bayanihan 2].”
Confusing guidelines, borrowers’ fear
He could not speak to how the regional offices disseminated the guidelines for the DOT-DOLE program. “What I see is that some are confused by the guidelines, do not know about it, or possibly just lazy to apply,” he noted.
He added, “A possible detriment also is that the assistance has to be applied for by the company. How can a beneficiary tap the program if he is no longer employed by the company? Will the company even bother filing for you? Some have asked if individuals could apply instead. I don’t see that option in the requirements.”
For SB Corp’s CARES for Travel program, Clemente said among the reasons for the poor availment is that the intended beneficiaries “don’t want to borrow because they might not be able to repay the loan.”
Also, he said, some stakeholders have mentioned that the loan amounts approved “were too small. But then the loanable amount is also dependent on a company’s asset size and feasibility study. To me that’s understandable; that’s the threshold of the regulations.”
He added he was also unaware “how the regional offices presented it to their stakeholders, or if they were able to answer [the stakeholders’] questions correctly.”
It’s clear, Clemente said, there were shortcomings from both the government and stakeholders’ sides. “Stakeholders are still wishing for a handout.”
He also agreed that perhaps the financial assistance available under DOT-DOLE could also be increased from P5,000. “The last tranche of assistance was in May 2020, but the tourism sector wasn’t really operational yet. So if the financial aid is increased, it’s like a second round of ayuda.”