Opposition and reelectionist senator Bam Aquino said that small and medium enterprises or SME’s are in a “better” state under the Duterte administration.
During a senatorial debate set-up by ABS-CBN, Aquino, who is seeking to book a seat in the Senate under the opposition slate Otso Diretso, was asked what he likes the most about the Duterte administration.
In response, Aquino, who authored Republic Act 10644 or Go Negosyo Act which seeks to help start-up businesses in the country, said that SME’s are better run under Duterte’s governance.
“Sa mga SME po, sa mga small and medium enterprises, mas maganda ‘yung pagpapatakbo ngayon,” Aquino said.
In 2017, Duterte signed a P1-billion to help support small-scale entrepreneurs by providing them loan funds so that Filipinos would avoid loaning money from loan sharks.
Duterte warned foreigners engaging in the lending scheme, popularly known as “5-6”, to stop the practice or else they will be arrested and deported.
The government currently offers loaning options from Php5,000 to Php100,000 for small and medium enterprise owners under the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-Asenso (P3) program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The program was specifically created to encourage Filipinos to avoid lending money from “5-6” collectors.
