No requests to DBM yet for gov’t to shoulder testing of MSME workers —Duterte

No government agency has requested funding so far to support the COVID-19 testing of employees of the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday.

Duterte made the statement in his weekly report to Congress as mandated by the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which gave him special powers to effectively respond to the public health crisis.

“As regards the funding for the testing of MSME employees, the DBM [Department of Budget and Management] has yet to receive any request from concerned departments/agencies of the government for purpose,” he said.

“We wish to assure Congress that once a request is received, the same will be evaluated based on the recommendation of competent authorities relative to testing, as well as the IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases].”

Recently, the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) asked the government to consider shouldering the costs of testing for MSME employees

"Including them in testing programs is therefore essential to MSME owners, to ease the burden of having to bear the social and financial costs of the global health crisis," PMAP said in a statement late last month.

According to the latest data available from the Department of Trade and Industry, 99.52% of the total 1.003 million business establishments in the country as of 2018 were MSMEs.

Micro enterprises are defined as those with total assets worth less than P50,000; cottage enterprises with assets worth P50,001 to P500,000; small with P500,001 to P5 million; and medium from over P5 million to P20 million.

Many industries and businesses have been allowed to resume operations after the government began easing restrictions last month. Employees were not required to undergo testing for COVID-19 before they go back to their respective jobs.

The Labor department said only employees showing symptoms of COVID-19 should be required to undergo the test and employers should implement precautionary measures such as disinfection of facilities and provision of hand sanitizers and face masks. — BM, GMA News