Villar proposes SME stock exchange

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Cynthia Villar has filed measures seeking to establish a Small and Medium Enterprises Stock Exchange (SMEX) and encourage Filipinos to patronize local products.

The SMEX bill also seeks to assist small and medium enterprises in obtaining financing requirements from developing capital market in the country, Villar said.

She filed the “Buy Pinoy, Build Pinoy Act,” which aims to inculcate in every Filipino the wisdom of supporting Filipino-made products and recognize Filipino producers. The bill seeks to declare November of every year as the “Buy Pinoy, Build Pinoy Month.”

Aside from proposals to help Filipino entrepreneurs, Villar also filed measures to boost the country’s food security and accelerate agricultural growth.

She said the country’s livestock industry is a major concern as the sector – comprising cattle, hogs, poultry and dairy – “should feed our people.”

“It can reduce poverty in the countryside by giving raisers better income and jobs to farmers and their families,” Villar said, referring to the livestock industry.

Meanwhile, Sen. Loren Legarda filed Senate Bill 4 seeking to increase the minimum wage of public school teachers and non-teaching personnel.

Legarda’s measure highlights the need to provide adequate support and compensation to address the increasing cost of living.

The measure seeks to increase the salary grade level of public school teachers from Grade 11 to Grade 15.

Teaching personnel or instructors in public universities and colleges will also be granted an increase from Salary Grade 12 to Grade 16.

Salary for a regular entry-level position in government service should not be less than P16,000 a month.

As former chair of the Senate committee on finance, Legarda introduced and sponsored vital amendments for the education sector such as funding for free tertiary education, free tuition for medical students in state universities and colleges and free WiFi connectivity in all SUCs.

Legarda also filed the Magna Carta for Private School Teachers and the Magna Carta of Public School Teachers to institutionalize support for education personnel.

As this developed, a proposal titled “Better Internet Act” has been filed in the Senate to mandate internet service providers (ISPs) to provide fast and reliable connections.

Sen. Grace Poe said she filed the bill to improve the internet service and access across the country.

“The internet has become a necessity as indispensable as electricity and water. We rely on it for health, education, business, governance and more,” Poe said.

The proposed “Better Internet Act” aims to provide fast, reliable, secure and affordable internet. It seeks to require ISPs to widen their reach and establish a minimum and consistent internet connection speed.

“Service providers must pick up and maintain an acceptable internet speed to boost connectivity across sectors and empower our people,” Poe said.

“Undoubtedly, the internet has become an essential tool to survive and thrive. We should therefore bolster public access to it,” she said.

Under the bill, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should require all public telecommunications entities (PTEs) and ISPs to extend and expand the service coverage of fixed and mobile internet service in all unserved and underserved areas within three years from the effectivity of the measure.

PTEs and ISPs are strongly encouraged to provide a higher internet speed and deliver a minimum standard for connection speed to their subscribers.

There should be no required minimum internet speed for free internet service.

If enacted into law, telcos and ISPs would have three years to ensure that they provide no lower than the minimum required download speeds to their end-users.

The NTC is mandated to enforce providers’ compliance on internet speed, quality and consistency as well as other coverage obligations to subscribers.

“PTEs and ISPs must meet the minimum standards on connection, reception, just pricing and billing practices to promote and protect the rights of consumers of internet services,” the bill stated.

Those who cannot comply with the required internet service standards will be fined not less than P200,000 and not more than P2 million for each count of violation.

If a service provider’s yearly gross income is less than P10 million, the penalty is one percent to two percent of its annual gross income.

“Ensuring access to fast and affordable internet connection is not only an option if we want our country and people to be competitive. It should be a priority,” Poe said.

Earlier, Poe urged former president Rodrigo Duterte to direct all government agencies to remove obstacles to and expedite the approval of telco infrastructure construction to improve internet access.

She also expressed support for the inclusion of the necessary provision in the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act that resulted in faster installation of connection framework across the country.