THE Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) has recognized the need for the government to have a crisis response package to allay possible adverse effects of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic to the industry.
The business group said the Covid-19 crisis has brought many sectors of the economy to a halt.
The MBCCI pointed out that businesses considered non-essential have no revenues while the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) or "lockdown" is in place, yet they may still be paying salaries, rents, and debt interest.
These expenditures may have been deferred -- including through government-sponsored programs -- but rarely waived, it added.
In Negros Occidental, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson announced Monday, April 27, that the province will downgrade to general community quarantine starting May 1.
This is in accordance to the recommendation made by the National Inter-Agency Task Force against Covid-19 since Negros Occidental and Bacolod City were assessed to be under "moderate risks."
As this developed, MBCCI chief executive officer Frank Carbon said that the longer the hiatus, the greater the financial pressure on the businesses.
For small and micro enterprises, including the self-employed which make up 90 percent of the business sector in Negros, Carbon said their working capital may have been depleted as they struggled to provide for their family's basic needs.
As a result, a large number of them may find themselves unable to re-open even when the ECQ is lifted, he said.
"Government needs a crisis response package to prevent this possibility," the business leader said, adding that "this package includes providing access to loans to infuse capital into these businesses.
He pointed out that the loan departments of the Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines as well as the Department of Trade and Industry and Small Business Corporation will need to open and be fully staffed one or two weeks before the ECQ is lifted.
"In an emergency such as this, they may need to augment staffing to expedite the processes. Then, widely disseminate the guidelines to avail of loans," Carbon added.
The business group believes that it should be the local government units' responsibility to ensure that all businesses have access to these loans.
For many businesses, there may be a drastic change in the way they do business and they will need a lot of advice and support.
The MBCCI said business organizations, professional offices or institutions and service providers that support business should also be allowed and encouraged to open and return to work before ECQ ends.
This is to help businesses prepare its projected financial statements, feasibility studies, loan application forms and the like, advice on new business models, cost-cutting measures and evenue generation strategies, it added.