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The government now intends to allocate between P3.7 billion and P13 billion to provide a cash subsidy to struggling micro and small establishments (MPEs) and allow them to settle the payment of the 13th month of year-end of their workers .
This was based on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) estimates that there are between 1.5 million and 5 million workers employed by MSEs.
In an online briefing on Friday, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said they had already submitted the proposal to the Interagency Working Group for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) for its consideration.
If approved, he said, MSEs will have to apply to the DOLE to qualify for the grant and demonstrate that they have indeed incurred significant pandemic-induced revenue losses in the previous quarters of the year.
“We will examine them if they really need the subsidy,” Bello said.
Micro establishments are those that have an asset size of P3 million below, while small establishments have an asset size of P3,000,001 to P15 million.
In the event that interested agencies reject the suggestion due to a lack of available funding, Bello said, they will urge the Department of Finance (DOF) to develop guidelines on how MSEs can obtain loans from banks, particularly those from the government.
The labor chief said they probably would not extend similar aid to medium and large companies, as they are more likely to cope with business disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Medium companies are those with an asset size of P15,000,001 to P100,000,000.
Bello reiterated that they will not allow companies to defer payment or be exempt from their responsibility in paying their workers’ thirteenth month pay by virtue of Presidential Decree 851.
He stressed that employers should pay it on or before December 24, 2020.
