MANDAUE CITY—President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. together with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Fred Pascual spearheaded the distribution of assistance for MSMEs on 27 February 2023. The assistance given is part of DTI’s Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa (PPG) program, which aims to capacitate and assist existing and future micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through the provision of kits containing materials, equipment, and initial stocks to commence and improve their businesses.
“Ito ay bahagi ng ating tuluy-tuloy na pag-alalay sa mga maliliit na negosyo sa gitna ng pandemya. Ngayong araw ay namigay tayo ng worth 8,000 pesos na vouchers o negosyo kits sa dalawampung mico-entrepreneurs. Umaasa ang DTI na makakatulong ito sa pag cover ng kanilang operational costs at sa kanilang muling pagbangon mula sa nangyaring sunog noong nakaraang taon”, said Secretrary Pascual.
The DTI-PPG is a livelihood seeding and entrepreneurship development program whose target beneficiaries are micro-enterprises affected by fire incidents and other calamities, including health disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department provides beneficiaries with information materials, business counseling and mentoring, enterprise development training, and livelihood kits.
During the program, Secretary Pascual lead the distribution of DTI-PPG 2023 Livelihood/ Negosyo kits to 20 beneficiaries who were victims of a fire incident on 13 December 2022. Each beneficiary has received a voucher amounting to PHP8,000. In total, the DTI distributed PHP160,000 worth of financial assistance.
MSMEs are considered as the backbone of the Philippine economy as it constitutes 99.5% of all registered businesses in the country. Likewise, MSMEs generated 64.6% of the country’s total employment. Thus, the DTI recognizes their vital contributions to economic growth and recovery.
Further, Secretary Pascual said that “The DTI will continue to assist MSMEs, especially in terms of digitalization so they can reach wider markets. We will also help them access financing, mayroon pong Small Business Corporation or SBCorp under the DTI na maaaring mag-assist sa mga MSMEs kung kailangan nila ng loans na makakatulong sa kanila sa pagsimula o paglago ng kanilang negosyo.”
The distribution program was also attended by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, and Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
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