Duterte OKs P51 billion wage subsidy for middle class

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has approved a P50.8-billion wage subsidy program for around 3.4 million middle class workers whose jobs were affected by the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.

At a virtual press briefing yesterday, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Duterte approved the Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program, which will benefit workers employed by some 1.6 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) forced to stop operations because of the quarantine implemented to curb the transmission of COVID-19 .

The SBWS was presented to the President by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and his team during a meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases at Malacañang on Monday night.

Dominguez said the subsidy, ranging from P5,000 to P8,000 per beneficiary, would be given for two months.

The first tranche would be implemented from May 1 to 15. The second tranche is set from May 16 to 30.

The program will benefit some 2.6 million workers whose employers are registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Social Security System (SSS), according to Domiguez.

He said these employees could be easily identified and processed for coverage.

The program will also support another 800,000 workers whose employers are not fully compliant with BIR and SSS regulations.

The finance chief said the details, mechanics and eligibility criteria of the beneficiaries would be announced this week.

Dominguez said an online system would be launched this week to enable small business owners to submit the lists of their employees through the SSS website.

Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua said eligible workers in Metro Manila and Regions 3 and 4A would be given P8,000 per month.

“The reason for this is that there are many workers who live in one region and work in another region,” Chua said.

He said the distribution of the wage subsidy would be better targeted as those registered with the SSS and BIR are easily identifiable.

Bank and e-wallet accounts can also be registered with the SSS for the efficient disbursement of subsidies, Chua said.

To avoid duplication, he said workers who have availed themselves of assistance under the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will only be eligible for a one-month wage subsidy.

According to Chua, some 436,300 small businesses were forced to stop operations after Luzon was placed under enhanced community quarantine.

He said some one million businesses are able to operate with skeleton forces.

Only 117,666 essential small businesses, including drugstores, supermarkets and those involved in food service and logistics, have been allowed to operate since the quarantine was implemented, Chua said.

President Duterte has ordered agencies to ensure that low-income families not yet on the list of beneficiaries of the government’s aid package would receive assistance.

Duterte directed the Departments of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Interior and Local Government to work together to ensure that relief would be extended to the needy.

The DSWD previously admitted that the absence of a credible list of beneficiaries from local governments had hampered the grant of assistance to poor families.

Duterte said the implementation of the national ID system would have made the identification of beneficiaries easier. He blamed the Left for the refusal of some people to be included in the government database.

Subsidy welcomed

Business groups welcomed the government’s move to provide wage subsidy to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

The groups are also supporting the conduct of mass testing as this can help in allowing the resumption of more businesses.

“Anything they give to support small businesses and workers will be welcome,” Sergio Ortiz Luis Jr., president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. and Employers Confederation of the Philippines, said.

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president emeritus George Barcelon also welcomed the wage subsidy program.

“This is a big help for MSMEs because they have been struggling with the closure of businesses for more than a month now. Their financial resources are tight,” he said.

Some P101.5 billion have been released by the government for its emergency subsidy program (ESP) for poor families and the informal sector affected by the COVID-19 crisis, President Duterte said.

In his third weekly report to Congress on the implementation of Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan Act, Duterte stressed that “our government must deliver genuine, sensitive and tangible assistance to those in need during this crisis.”

Various national government agencies and local government units (LGUs) are implementing the ESP as part of the law’s implementation that granted Duterte certain powers, including realignment of funds, to address the pandemic.

As of April 8, the Department of Budget and Management has released P101.5 billion to the DSWD and DOLE for cash grants to poor families and displaced workers.

The cash subsidy program is targeting 18 million vulnerable families, including the 4.4 million households already receiving grants under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.

The 27-page report stated that a set of omnibus guidelines will harmonize all issuances pertaining to subsidies to speed up delivery of assistance.

It also reminded LGUs that the assistance should be given on a “per family basis” despite living in a single dwelling.

Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero urged the national government to be more cautious in providing subsidies to the poor, saying leaving out the most vulnerable families might increase the number of indigent citizens.

“We have to recalibrate the 4Ps estimates. The unemployment rate could double in the first and second quarters and perhaps the whole year if we are unable to get people back to work,” Romero said.

Pagcor donation

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has remitted another P6 billion to the government to boost its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pagcor chairman and chief executive officer Andrea Domingo said the gaming regulator released the amount on Monday to the Socio-Civic Funds Project of the Office of the President, bringing Pagcor’s total contribution to the OP alone to P14.5 billion.

Domingo said the remittance aims to fund the government’s COVID-19 control measures.

Pagcor also remitted P12 billion in dividends to the national treasury on March 23 to beef up state coffers amid the pandemic.

Domingo said the gaming regulator is losing P5 billion to P6 billion a month on average due to the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine, which led to the suspension of gaming operations.

“Despite the losses due to the suspension of operations of licensed gaming facilities, we are doing our best to provide help to the government during this time of crisis,” she said.

Domingo said Pagcor and its licensees have been donating food packs, personal protective equipment and other medical essentials to frontliners, hospitals and communities in Metro Manila and some parts of Luzon.

She said the charitable arms of Entertainment City casino licensees have also extended assistance. The Okada Manila Foundation donated P25 million each to the Philippine Heart Center and Lung Center of the Philippines.

Displaced workers

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III yesterday belied allegations that the government is underreporting the number of displaced workers due to the pandemic.

“We want to give the displaced workers the assistance we can provide. There is no reason for the government, much less in the labor department, to play with numbers – underreport or downplay them,” Bello said.

As of April 13, the DOLE recorded 1,428,841 displaced workers as reported by 52,993 business establishments.

Of the number, Bello said more than one million workers were displaced due to the temporary closures of businesses. The rest were affected by flexible work arrangements.

“The figures do not include the number of informal sector workers who are also needing financial assistance,” he noted.

Bello said around 220,000 workers have received one-time financial grant of P5,000 from the DOLE.

He said the number of workers affected by the COVID-19 crisis continues to increase as Luzon remains under enhanced community quarantine.

Bello said the DOLE has been transparent in reporting the number of displaced workers based on data gathered by the agency’s regional offices.  –  With Alexis Romero, Louella Desiderio, Paolo Romero, Helen Flores, Mayen Jaymalin, Delon Porcalla