BIG business urged the government to extend the coverage of its wage subsidy program in response to the new coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic now limited to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The Makati Business Club (MBC) in its statement on the celebration today of Labor Day commended the President and Congress for the timely 2018 Social Security Act, which is providing unemployment benefits to Filipinos for the first time, and the Bayanihan Act’s wage subsidy program for MSMEs.
But it said the wage subsidy should be extended to other companies, including educational institutions, which are affected by the suspension of classes.
With the expansion, MBC said more workers can keep their jobs and provide for their families, ready to restart the economy in the challenging times ahead.
The Bayanihan Act had rolled out emergency subsidy from the Department of Labor and Employment and the Social Security System.
The group, however, agrees with the suggestion of various groups that government should waive the usual requirement for recipients to present government-issued IDs.
“ We support their call for alternative verification systems such as using local government and community groups to validate recipient lists and identities,” MBC said.
For the longer term, the MBC expressed support to the government’s renewed effort to implement the Philippine ID System as this will significantly improve the efficiency, transparency, and targeted delivery of public services – including similar subsidies in future crises – and strengthen financial inclusion of all sectors including workers.
In celebration of Labor Day, the MBC also commended the country’s frontliners who have been
providing life-saving medical care; maintaining peace, order, and security; providing national and local government services; producing and selling food, water, medicine, personal protective equipment, and other necessities; delivering goods through a complex system including ships, ports, trucks, and motorcycles; providing banking and money transfer services; and operating power, water, telecommunications, and other utilities during this time of the pandemic.
