If he would have his way, senatorial candidate Herbert “Bistek” Bautista would provide loan packages worth P100,000 to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that were battered by the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“But let’s not give aid without a condition,” Bautista said in a statement Saturday, April 23.

He then cited similar assistance programs for small businesses hit by the pandemic in Japan, Germany, and the United States (US) as examples of what the Philippine government can do for local MSMEs.

“I’ll give you an example. I’ll give you P100,000 to restart but you should hire those employed with you before,” said Bautista, who is running on a platform of Internet reform, Livelihood for all and Youth development (ILY), and Pagkain para sa Pamilyang Pilipino (Food for Filipino Families),

“Or if you’re just opening, or opening a new business, you must hire these unemployed people,” he said, referring to workers who lost their jobs at the height of the pandemic.

The former three-term mayor of Quezon City said that under his loan proposal, "Jobs should be created because we have many countrymen who lost their jobs in the last two years because many businesses closed shop."

He said incentives, aside from aid, would also help bring back MSMEs to life.

“If we’re able to do that as a senator, we can help entrepreneurs and our economy would become vibrant again,” said Bautista, who is gunning for a Senate seat under the UniTeam banner.

In a previous statement, Bautista expressed alarm over the rate of closure of MSMEs, saying that he believed that between 70 and 80 percent of MSMEs that closed at the height of the pandemic have remained closed.

“The important thing, for me, is for them to reopen. Instead of 70 percent of them closed, let’s go back to 100 percent of them open. All businesses must reopen to provide many jobs to our countrymen. So it will be an employment opportunity for our people,” said Bautista.