P50.8-B wage subsidy for middle class
Published Apr 13, 2020 12:00 am
By Genalyn Kabiling and Argyll Geducos
The government is set to roll out a P50.8-billion wage subsidy program for workers in about 1.6 million small businesses hit by coronavirus lockdown by next month.
President Duterte approved the proposed small business wage subsidy program to provide relief for the concerned middle class workers, according to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at special ASEAN summit on COVID-19. (PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOS / MANILA BULLETIN)
Under the two-month program, Nograles said the government will give a subsidy between ₱5,000 to ₱8,000 per worker depending on the minimum wage of a region.
“This was presented to the President and he gave his go-signal...The program is called the small business wage subsidy program. This is our response to our middle income workers,” Nograles said in Filipino during a virtual press conference Tuesday.
“This will cover 1.6 million small businesses that have ceased to operate due to ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) or who are applying the skeletal workforce to stay afloat. The number of potential workers who can benefit is 3.4 million workers,” he added.
Nograles said the subsidies for the eligible workers will be given in two tranches next month. The first tranche of the subsidy will be given
between May 1 and 15, while second tranche will be paid in the second half of the month.
While the wage subsidy for middle class workers is all set for roll out,
President Duterte said the government could no longer accommodate 5.4 million more families in its Social Amelioration Program (SAP) for now
due to limited resources.
Duterte, in his report to Congress, said the Department of Finance (DOF) already made the computations after the Senate proposed to add 5.4 million family beneficiaries to cover 95 percent of the total families in the
country.
“ will result in an additional budget requirement of around P66.4 billion. Considering the limited resources of the government, it might be prudent to prioritize allocating resources in accordance with RA No. 11469 to immediately assist the poorest of the poor,” he said.
Exclusion
Nograles said the government intends to use the database of small businesses registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Social Security System (SSS) to identify the target beneficiaries. “This is our priority,” Nograles said about the eligible businesses.
Excluded from the wage subsidy program are workers on-leave and those availing themselves of SSS unemployment benefits.
Workers who benefited from the one-time ₱5,000 subsidy from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will not be entitled to the first
month of new wage subsidy.
“But for the second month or second tranche, they are covered,” Nograles said.
He said the wage subsidy will be distributed either through workers' SSS cards, bank accounts, PayMaya online account, or remittance transfer
companies.
In his recent weekly report to Congress, the President bared the proposed ₱50.8-billion wage subsidy program for workers in small businesses affected by the quarantine regulations due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
The subsidy program aims to help the formal sector and middle class workers who are not covered by the emergency subsidy program for low-income families.
Duterte also mentioned that the finance department is also studying the proposal to grant small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic a credit guarantee to provide them easy access to bank financing.
Of the 57 lending conduits identified by the Department of Agriculture, Duterte said 36 have agreed to participate in the implementation of the Expanded SURE-Aid and Recovery Project.
The program aims to give small farmers and small enterprises zero interest loans to cope with the health emergency. So far, he said 16 out of the 295 target micro and small enterprises have signified intent to avail the program.
In the same report to Congress, the President disclosed that the Bureau of the Treasury is working with SSS "to implement the proposed ₱45-billion wage subsidy assistance to employees of eligible businesses.”
On Tuesday, the BIR submitted to the DOF the names of the more than 3.5 million taxpayers qualified to receive financial assistance due to coronavirus fallout.
BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Arnel Guballa said the list included employees of grocery stores, hardware, tailoring, motor and barber shops.
The revenue official said employees of large and medium business enterprises are ineligible to join in the so-called "Small Business Subsidy"
(SBS) program.
“The financial assistance is limited only to registered taxpayers as well as members of the Social Security System whose employers are tax compliant,”
Guballa stressed.
He said it is the project of the national government to alleviate the economic plights of this sector of society due to the pandemic.
The government is setting aside more than ₱51 billion for the rescue project.
Emergency subsidy
Based on Duterte's report to Congress, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has already released a total amount of P101.5 billion for the implementation of the Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
To ensure that the benefits are given to the rightful beneficiaries, the DSWD is set to issue Omnibus Guidelines consolidating and harmonizing all issuances pertaining to the implementation of its ESP.
The DSWD and the DOF were also preparing a comprehensive list of households per municipality that will group members of the formal sector and informal sector to identify the eligible beneficiaries of the ESP.
The DSWD targets to serve 18 million families through the SAP.
However, the figure may include beneficiaries from other comparable assistance programs of the national government.
The DOLE, meanwhile, adjusted its targets for its ESPs to cover the extended quarantine period. The number of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) was increased to 321,975 while beneficiaries of the Tulong
Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) increased to 235,949.
Protection of inmates
In his report, President Duterte said the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has adopted policies and measures to protect persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from COVID-19.
These measures include the restriction of visitation privileges, implementation of disinfection protocols and quarantine schemes, installation of temporary tents to
decongest prison buildings, and the establishment of a COVID-19 24-hour monitoring center.
Cash subsidy for drivers
Meanwhile, around 8,800 public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers so far have received cash assistance from the government's SAP under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said the total number of PUV driver-beneficiaries reached 8,879 individuals on Monday, since the aid distribution began last April 7.
These include drivers of jeepney, taxi, bus, transportation network vehicle service or TNVS, and motorcycle taxi, among others.
“The distribution of assistance to PUV drivers still continues through cash assistance from the social amelioration program conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Transportation, LTFRB, and Landbank of the Philippines (LBP),” LTFRB said
in a statement.
Assistance for all
Meanwhile, Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go has called on the national government to ensure that qualified beneficiaries, from the poor to the middle class, will receive financial and livelihood assistance as the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19) stalks the country.
Go said the government must do its best to ensure that various programs are immediately implemented to benefit the affected sectors of the society.
Go is chairman of the Senate health and demography committee and a member of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee that monitors the implementation of the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.”
“Our priority now is to ensure that the poorest of the poor gets assistance. Those who cannot be accommodated in the 18 million families for the emergency cash subsidy shall be included in another program of the government intended for the other affected citizens,” he said. (With reports from Jun Ramirez, Ellalyn DeVera-Ruiz, and Mario B. Casayuran)
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at special ASEAN summit on COVID-19. (PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOS / MANILA BULLETIN)
Under the two-month program, Nograles said the government will give a subsidy between ₱5,000 to ₱8,000 per worker depending on the minimum wage of a region.
“This was presented to the President and he gave his go-signal...The program is called the small business wage subsidy program. This is our response to our middle income workers,” Nograles said in Filipino during a virtual press conference Tuesday.
“This will cover 1.6 million small businesses that have ceased to operate due to ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) or who are applying the skeletal workforce to stay afloat. The number of potential workers who can benefit is 3.4 million workers,” he added.
Nograles said the subsidies for the eligible workers will be given in two tranches next month. The first tranche of the subsidy will be given
between May 1 and 15, while second tranche will be paid in the second half of the month.
While the wage subsidy for middle class workers is all set for roll out,
President Duterte said the government could no longer accommodate 5.4 million more families in its Social Amelioration Program (SAP) for now
due to limited resources.
Duterte, in his report to Congress, said the Department of Finance (DOF) already made the computations after the Senate proposed to add 5.4 million family beneficiaries to cover 95 percent of the total families in the
country.
“ will result in an additional budget requirement of around P66.4 billion. Considering the limited resources of the government, it might be prudent to prioritize allocating resources in accordance with RA No. 11469 to immediately assist the poorest of the poor,” he said.
Exclusion
Nograles said the government intends to use the database of small businesses registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Social Security System (SSS) to identify the target beneficiaries. “This is our priority,” Nograles said about the eligible businesses.
Excluded from the wage subsidy program are workers on-leave and those availing themselves of SSS unemployment benefits.
Workers who benefited from the one-time ₱5,000 subsidy from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will not be entitled to the first
month of new wage subsidy.
“But for the second month or second tranche, they are covered,” Nograles said.
He said the wage subsidy will be distributed either through workers' SSS cards, bank accounts, PayMaya online account, or remittance transfer
companies.
In his recent weekly report to Congress, the President bared the proposed ₱50.8-billion wage subsidy program for workers in small businesses affected by the quarantine regulations due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
The subsidy program aims to help the formal sector and middle class workers who are not covered by the emergency subsidy program for low-income families.
Duterte also mentioned that the finance department is also studying the proposal to grant small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic a credit guarantee to provide them easy access to bank financing.
Of the 57 lending conduits identified by the Department of Agriculture, Duterte said 36 have agreed to participate in the implementation of the Expanded SURE-Aid and Recovery Project.
The program aims to give small farmers and small enterprises zero interest loans to cope with the health emergency. So far, he said 16 out of the 295 target micro and small enterprises have signified intent to avail the program.
In the same report to Congress, the President disclosed that the Bureau of the Treasury is working with SSS "to implement the proposed ₱45-billion wage subsidy assistance to employees of eligible businesses.”
On Tuesday, the BIR submitted to the DOF the names of the more than 3.5 million taxpayers qualified to receive financial assistance due to coronavirus fallout.
BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Arnel Guballa said the list included employees of grocery stores, hardware, tailoring, motor and barber shops.
The revenue official said employees of large and medium business enterprises are ineligible to join in the so-called "Small Business Subsidy"
(SBS) program.
“The financial assistance is limited only to registered taxpayers as well as members of the Social Security System whose employers are tax compliant,”
Guballa stressed.
He said it is the project of the national government to alleviate the economic plights of this sector of society due to the pandemic.
The government is setting aside more than ₱51 billion for the rescue project.
Emergency subsidy
Based on Duterte's report to Congress, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has already released a total amount of P101.5 billion for the implementation of the Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
To ensure that the benefits are given to the rightful beneficiaries, the DSWD is set to issue Omnibus Guidelines consolidating and harmonizing all issuances pertaining to the implementation of its ESP.
The DSWD and the DOF were also preparing a comprehensive list of households per municipality that will group members of the formal sector and informal sector to identify the eligible beneficiaries of the ESP.
The DSWD targets to serve 18 million families through the SAP.
However, the figure may include beneficiaries from other comparable assistance programs of the national government.
The DOLE, meanwhile, adjusted its targets for its ESPs to cover the extended quarantine period. The number of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) was increased to 321,975 while beneficiaries of the Tulong
Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) increased to 235,949.
Protection of inmates
In his report, President Duterte said the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has adopted policies and measures to protect persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from COVID-19.
These measures include the restriction of visitation privileges, implementation of disinfection protocols and quarantine schemes, installation of temporary tents to
decongest prison buildings, and the establishment of a COVID-19 24-hour monitoring center.
Cash subsidy for drivers
Meanwhile, around 8,800 public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers so far have received cash assistance from the government's SAP under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said the total number of PUV driver-beneficiaries reached 8,879 individuals on Monday, since the aid distribution began last April 7.
These include drivers of jeepney, taxi, bus, transportation network vehicle service or TNVS, and motorcycle taxi, among others.
“The distribution of assistance to PUV drivers still continues through cash assistance from the social amelioration program conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Transportation, LTFRB, and Landbank of the Philippines (LBP),” LTFRB said
in a statement.
Assistance for all
Meanwhile, Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go has called on the national government to ensure that qualified beneficiaries, from the poor to the middle class, will receive financial and livelihood assistance as the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19) stalks the country.
Go said the government must do its best to ensure that various programs are immediately implemented to benefit the affected sectors of the society.
Go is chairman of the Senate health and demography committee and a member of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee that monitors the implementation of the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.”
“Our priority now is to ensure that the poorest of the poor gets assistance. Those who cannot be accommodated in the 18 million families for the emergency cash subsidy shall be included in another program of the government intended for the other affected citizens,” he said. (With reports from Jun Ramirez, Ellalyn DeVera-Ruiz, and Mario B. Casayuran)