Trade groups prod gov’t on stimulus bills

Large local business groups want to know how President Duterte will help micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) as they still await a clear action plan several months deep into the pandemic.

Ahead of the State of the Nation Address on Monday, three business groups appealed to President Duterte to implement long-awaited economic measures, including a tax cut that would ease the burden on MSMEs.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines and the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. said in a joint statement on Friday that they had written to Malacañang recently.

“While we agree that health-related programs and policies should be prioritized in the context of this crisis, we likewise believe in balancing this objective with setting the economic stage toward recovery and progress,” they said.

“There had been many delays already in pushing for these reforms as government and private sector got sidetracked by disasters and hazards even at the beginning of the year,” they added.

The clamor for a clear plan has been long overdue, especially after numerous late night addresses Mr. Duterte made to the country about COVID-19 efforts. Despite these speeches, businesses still don’t know much about any clear plan.

The economic measures that they wanted the President to adopt included the urgent approval by Congress of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act bill.

The bill is supposed to rationalize tax breaks and cut taxes for corporations at a time when survival, not profit, became their main priority.

They also urged the government to pass stimulus bills, namely the Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy and the COVID-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus bills.

These, they said, would provide fresh impetus to keep the economy afloat and positioned for a solid economic rebound.

“Further delay on its enactment will worsen the adverse economic consequences of over two-year investor uncertainty since the bill was initially discussed,” they warned.

These were among the interventions they hoped the government would do through Congress.

The executive arm of the government, on the other hand, could do other measures too, they said, such as implementing a national ID system to help distribute aid to beneficiaries of social protection programs.

In a separate text message, John Forbes, senior adviser of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, also said they hoped Mr. Duterte would endorse the bills that AmCham and 13 other business groups had recently recommended.

“AmCham is looking forward to the President’s fifth Sona being delivered at a time when the country is facing one of the most serious crises in its history. We expect he will explain policies to balance the health of citizens and the health of the economy, and even new reforms to achieve rapid economic recovery,” he said.