Trade says no more state aid available for exporters

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