Press Release
November 11, 2018

Poe's bill to provide financial incentives to local enterprises

Sen. Grace Poe has filed a bill aimed at institutionalizing the government's stimulus program for micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) by having all cities and municipalities promote a particular product or finished good within their jurisdiction.

In filing Senate Bill No. 2049, Poe proposed an outright grant of at least P10,000 to eligible MSMEs.

Poe said all cities and municipalities shall be made to identify one finished good that is not only well-known but also an established product within their jurisdiction.

"The present measure seeks to breathe life into the Constitutional provisions by establishing a Suporta Para Sa Produktong Pilipino Program," the senator said referring to the declared policy of the government to establish programs that will provide financial incentives for local enterprises in the country.

"The concept of social justice is imbued throughout the 1987 Constitution. In fact, an entire Article is dedicated to the elaboration of this concept," Poe added.

The eligible MSMEs which primarily operate within the city or municipality concerned and which produce the identified finished goods shall be provided with the said fund grant.

In order to be eligible for the said program, businesses and enterprises must provide documentary evidence that they have been operating within the concerned city or municipality for at least three years and have been producing the identified finished good for the same period.

Under Poe's proposed bill, a trust fund with a seed capital of P50 million will be set up, with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at the forefront to administer its disbursement.

No business or enterprise shall avail of such benefit more than once a year, the bill said.

The DTI shall also provide for regular trade fairs and bazaars wherein the eligible businesses and enterprises under this Act shall showcase their finished goods to consumers and investors.

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