House OKs bill aiding distressed enterprises amid COVID-19

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a proposed measure which seeks to provide financial aid to distressed enterprises that are critical to economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Voting 185-16-2, lawmakers approved House Bill 7749 or the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE).

The financial assistance will be given through programs and initiatives that will be enforced by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), for purposes of addressing liquidity or solvency problems of MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and strategically important industries, encourage their continued operations, and maintain employment levels.

One of the key provisions include the expansion of loan assistance programs, rediscounting and other credit accommodation facilities of LBP, DBP, small business corporation and Agriculture Credit Policy Council.

The targeted sectors of LBP include players engaged in activities in the agribusiness value chain and for DBP, it will give assistance to eligible MSMEs engaged in infrastructure, services, service industry, and/or manufacturing business.

Gabriela Women's Party Representative Arlene Brosas voted no to the proposed measure, saying that only huge corporations will benefit from this measure.

"Pabalat lamang ang nakasaad na loan assistance sa micro, small at medium enterprises o MSMEs dahil ang pangunahing diin ng panukalang ito ay ang pagtatayo ng special holding company na sasaklolo sa mga strategically important companies, o sa madaling salita ay mga malalaking korporasyon na 'too big to fail,'" she said.

"Maliit na pautang ang hatid sa mga maliliit na negosyo pero ayuda o bailout para sa mga malalaking negosyo," Brosas added.

Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate pointed out that MSMEs should be the ones to be assisted, especially in this time of health crisis.

"Hindi lang sila ang pinakamarami at nagbibigay ng 62.4% ng empleyo sa ating bansa, sila rin ang pinakamalubhang naapektuhan ng pandemya at lockdown," Zarate said.

"Hindi tulad ng mga malalaking kompanya na kumita pa rin sa gitna ng pandemya, maraming maliliit na mamumuhunan ang nalugi at nagsara dahil sa ipinatupad na lockdown," he added.—LDF, GMA News