Philexport supports bill giving more perks to small, micro firms

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) is strongly supporting the proposed amendatory law making incentives to micro enterprises more accessible than those offered by the Baranggay Micro Enterprise Act of 2002.

Philexport noted that small enterprises would enjoy minimal or no taxes and local government fees, hassle-free registration and possible exemption from the minimum wage standard.

In a position paper submitted to the committee headed by Congressman Teddy Casino, Philexport president Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr., said Philexport supports that bills that essentially seek to improve the policy environment for micro-enterprises by exempting them from taxes, fees and charges and other regulatory measures that tend to challenge their commercial viability, stunt their growth and encourage them to go underground.”

Ortiz-Luis, however, suggested the lowering from P1,000 to P500 of the registration fee and the issuance of Certificates of Authority, the document that entitles them to the perks under the proposed Micro Enterprise Act.

He further suggested the certificate should be renewable every two years as provided for in the present law, not one year under the consolidated bill.

Ortiz-Luis also suggested a clearer order to local government units to exempt or reduce the taxes, fees and charges they collect from tiny businesses. Under existing laws, a micro enterprise is a business whose assets do not exceed P3 million, not counting the value of the land where it is located.

In the position paper, PHILEXPORT also disagreed with the suggestion to come up with a negative list of activities that are supposed to enjoy the incentives, citing that there could be issues such as delays and lack of technical capability at the LGU level to evaluate such activities.

Equally compelling, the export leader objected to the five-year period within which a tiny enterprise is exempted from following the law on minimum wages. “We wish to express our disagreement on limiting the period within which minimum wage law exemption will be granted,” Ortiz-Luis urged the Casino committee.

He explained that due to the difficulty of nurturing a very small business, particularly the hardship by which one can get credit, these enterprises must continue to enjoy exemption from paying the minimum wage for as long as they are registered as tiny businesses. –EDU LOPEZ, Manila Bulletin