Villar, Biazon prod MSMEs to multiply

Championing the cause of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) should be a national advocacy, according to former Senator Cynthia Villar.

In her keynote address to open the “Tindahan ni Tarsee” at Festival Mall in Alabang, Villar paid tribute to DAILY TRIBUNE for supporting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, especially No Poverty and Zero Hunger, through the yearly trade fair it sponsors.

“It shows how media institutions can help shape a more inclusive and sustainable future,” she said.

Villar noted that MSMEs are the backbone of the economy, accounting for more than 99 percent of businesses in the country and providing millions of jobs to Filipinos.

“But more than the numbers, micro, small, and medium enterprises embody the resilience, innovation, and hard work of Filipino entrepreneurs. Behind every small business is a family striving for a better life, a dream waiting to grow, and a community that benefits from its success,” Villar stressed.

Platforms provided by DAILY TRIBUNE, where MSMEs can showcase their products, meet new partners, and expand their markets, “are so important,” she said.

She said that among the small businesses or cooperatives that uplift the lives of Filipinos is the Sambayanan Cooperative of Muntinlupa City.

“Every year, the Villar Foundation gives financial assistance to 20 outstanding cooperatives all over the Philippines. So you are one of them and you should be proud of it. We award these on the birthday of former Senator Manny Villar, P250,000 each, to empower them to be more successful,” Villar said.

She said that she resisted government efforts to tax cooperatives on the pretext of their being billionaire cooperatives.

“I’m sorry, but research shows only two billionaire cooperatives — one in the CAR region and the other in Ilocos Sur. They are billionaires, but they have 200,000 members. If you divide P1 billion by 200,000, that means each member invested only around P5,000. So why penalize them?” she said.

Secure funding

MSMEs should take advantage of the soft loans offered by the Muntinlupa local government and the national government to elevate them from micro to medium entrepreneurs, Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon said.

In an interview during the opening of “Tindahan ni Tarsee,” Biazon said the Muntinlupa Entrepreneur Financing Division (MEFD) has been consistently providing financial aid through soft loans to MSMEs.

“We are providing funding for MSMEs’ capital, interest-free, starting at P5,000 to as much as P150,000. More business owners became successful because of that project, especially those who lost their jobs right after the pandemic. Most of them did not return to their jobs and became full-pledge entrepreneurs,” he said.

Food, retail stores

Biazon said most of the business owners that the MEFD has assisted are engaged in food businesses and sari-sari stores.

The number of MSMEs in Muntinlupa City is at more than 30,000, an increase from the 15,708 registered businesses in 2019 or before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country in 2020.

“We can see that our MSMEs are very successful, especially in our city, as they prop up the local economy and provide jobs even at a minimal number of two to three per entrepreneur. Those who are unable to get into malls and other companies can still have the chance to get jobs through MSMEs,” he said.

Biazon urged aspiring business owners to take advantage of the MEFD program, which will be restarted on 2 January next year, as the division’s funds for this year have been fully utilized.

Launched in December 2020, “Tindahan ni Tarsee” initially thrived as an online initiative, serving as a vital platform for local MSMEs to stay afloat amid the pandemic’s challenges.

Following the government’s approval of face-to-face gatherings in 2022, DAILY TRIBUNE expanded “Tindahan ni Tarsee” into physical spaces within malls.

This year, “Tindahan ni Tarsee” runs until 7 December at Festival Mall with a total of 74 merchants participating.