If she wins as president, one of the priorities of Vice President Leni Robredo is to help small, medium, and micro-entrepreneurs (MSMEs) transition to the new normal and prepare them for possible future crises through conditional loans, access to credit, integration into public procurement programs, and building the right infrastructure.
Should she win the presidency, Robredo plans to allocate P100 billion in a stimulus package for MSMEs as part of the country’s COVID-19 recovery plan. The condition is that beneficiaries of the stimulus package will not lay off their employees.
Robredo shared her plans for small-and medium-sized businesses during her turn at the Go Negosyo’s Go Negoshow “Kandidatalks” segment, which focuses on the impact of the 2022 national elections on the country’s MSMEs, which she said are the backbone of the economy.
The Vice President’s recovery plan also includes skills training, livelihood grants, and online jobs-matching, which are initiatives that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has already started.
Robredo also highlighted the need to help businesses have the right kind of infrastructure for them to adapt to the new normal.
“The mindset in planning should be geared toward creating more green spaces, more open spaces, and well-ventilated infrastructures,” she said, adding that businesses need to digitize their operations, too.
All of these would need loans, which Robredo plans to address by expanding access to credit through direct lending from state-owned banks and providing tax incentives to social enterprises.
The aspiring president also plans to integrate MSMEs into public sector procurement, noting that the government should be the group’s biggest market.
If the price and quality are competitive, Robredo said, there is no need for the government to look somewhere else.
As a representative during the 16th Congress, the lady official filed the Sustainable Public Procurement Bill, which “aimed to amend the procurement law.”
The proposed law stated that the government should take into consideration the social, economic, and environmental impact of its procurements and that MSMEs should be given a chance to bid for big projects.
READ: Gov’t must be ‘biggest market’ for MSMEs to boost PH economy—Robredo
But Robredo understands that MSMEs cannot compete with big bidders, which is why the law stated that there should be another criteria aside from price when it comes to government procurements.
Moving forward, she said, small businesses will need opportunities for innovation, and this is where “incubator programs” can help and encourage startups.
The forum was watched by more than 366,000 viewers when it streamed live over Facebook and shared over nine national media outlets on Monday night, Nov. 22.
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, who joined hosts Josephine Romero, Betong Sumaya, and Maey Bautista, said that Robredo plays a significant role for entrepreneurs because 90 percent of small business owners in the country is made up of women.
“She has the unique chance of helping and inspiring all the nanays (mothers) who have turned to entrepreneurship to improve their lives,” he said.
The Vice President, Concepcion added, has long been a supporter of MSMEs since her projects share the same objectives of helping them.
During the online forum, two business owners also fielded questions for Robredo. Merechel Mercado, who runs an island-hopping business, asked the Vice President why it is important to help small businesses.
READ: Robredo’s financial advice: Save, don’t spend beyond your means
Robredo, in her reply, noted that of 950,000 plus enterprises, 99.5 percent are MSMEs, and that 88.77 percent of these are microenterprises.
“Small enterprises play a big role in our economy,” she said, adding that they also generate 5.3 million jobs.
Robredo has been a part of several Go Negosyo projects, including the Filipina Entrepreneurship Summit, 55 Inspiring Stories of Women Entrepreneurs, and the ASEAN 2017 Prosperity for All Summit.
In particular, her office’s project with the farmer entrepreneurs of Camarines Sur has benefited from Go Negosyo’s Mentor Me programs.
Other presidential and vice presidential candidates are set to appear on the show in the coming weeks.