A PARTY-list lawmaker vowed to fast-track bills providing incentives for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) after being assigned at the House Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development.
Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño said he is making cheap credit and technical support as priority for small and medium scale entrepreneurs who employ majority of the country's workers.
The committee will be looking into the compliance of all banks and lending institutions to various laws and policies requiring credit allocations to MSMEs and will fast-track bills on the creation and accreditation of micro enterprise institutions.
“On a more strategic aspect, I would like to see our small and medium enterprises integrate with big industries towards the development of a genuine industrial sector that serves the country's needs for jobs and products," Casiño said being the chairman of the committee.
The 25-member Committee is mandated to tackle all matters relating to policies and programs on entrepreneurship development that include the promotion of entrepreneurship, support to entrepreneurs, and the establishment and continuing viability and growth of MSMEs in the country.
According to Casiño, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has determined that of the 783,065 business enterprises operating in the country, 99.7 percent (780,469) are MSMEs with micro enterprises.
Businesses that employ one to nine employees belong to the micro sector, 10 to 99 employees is categorized on small sector, medium sectors employ 100 to 199 while the large sector has more than 200 employees.
“The MSME sector accounts for about 99.7 percent of the registered businesses that provides employment to about 70 percent of the labor force in close to a decade. This is why it is important for Congress to give due attention to this sector,” Casiño stressed.
Some bills pending before the committee are those measures seeking the establishing of a law that will govern the accreditation of MSMEs filed by Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II (lone district, Mandaluyong) and Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez (first district, Leyte).
Ang Kasangga party-list Representative Teodorico Haresco meanwhile filed House resolution No. 41 empowering the Congressional oversight committee on MSMEs development to review the strict compliance of lending institutions to the mandatory allocation of credit resources to MSMEs. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)