AMID the scramble to get a piece of the Export Support Fund (ESF), the government on Thursday said the promised state aid for exporters no longer exists.
“There’s no more money, no funds [for the ESF],” Trade Secretary Jesli Lapus told reporters on the sidelines of the 51st Manila F.A.M.E. International.
Senior Trade Undersecretary Thomas Aquino said Lapus had written the Department of Budget and Management “asking for a little bit more [of the ESF] that can be thrown our way.”
But Malacañang is firm in its decision to realign the unallocated portion of the P1-billion ESF to the government’s disaster prevention, mitigation and recovery, trade officials said.
But they cannot confirm whether the unused amount had been actually realigned to efforts to mitigate the effects of El Niño and the strong typhoons that hit the country last year.
The Department of Trade and Industry earlier said that about P200-million worth of projects had qualified for funding under the ESF, but the Export Development Council (EDC) said only P40.77 million had been released so far.
Aquino said exporters of food and agricultural goods, furniture and furnishings, handicrafts, herbal products, jewelry, among others, were able to avail of the ESF.
Senen Perlada, EDC executive director, told reporters that some industry groups are causing the delay in the release of the funding they requested.
He said the disbursement and reimbursement of funds for projects that have qualified under the ESF involve a “stringent” process, which includes the submission of audited receipts. Some industry groups are unable to fulfill these requirements, hence the delay in the release of the funds allocated to them, he said.
The EDC official said the P100-million joint proposal of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. was “expensive.”
He said EDC wanted to distribute the meager fund to as many projects and as many groups as possible. –BEN ARNOLD O. DE VERA Reporter, Manila Times
March –
IT’S WOMEN’S MONTH!
“Respect and support women
every day of the year/s!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Environmental Week;
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and “
Made-in-the-Philippines Products Week
Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
of the Girl Child Week
Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
March 4: Employee Appreciation Day
March 15: World Consumer Rights Day
March 18: Global Recycling Day
March 21: International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination
March 23: International Day for the Right to the Truth
Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations
and for the Dignity of Victims
March 25: International Day of Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
March 27: Earth Hour
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