The government should boost the country's micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to address the lingering unemployment and underemployment problems, according to Senator Joel Villanueva.

Latest data fromthe Philippine Statistics Authority’s Labor Force Survey showed that the unemployment rate in November dipped slightly to 4.4 percent, translating to 2.25 million jobless Filipinos, which is down from five percent, or 2.59 million unemployed, in October.

In the Philippines, MSMEs comprise 99.63 percent of all registered business establishments and account for 66.97 percent of the total employment as of 2023.

Villanueva said the government should focus on enhancing the competitiveness and sustainability of Filipino medium and small businesses to create more jobs and address poverty.

“We must improve on our employment figures on a month-to-month and year-to-year basis for a realistic job growth figure, and one strategy to raise employment is by strengthening the lifeblood of our economy, the MSMEs, through focused government support," he said.

"Where MSMEs thrive, communities prosper,” he added.

Villanueva pushed anew for the passage of his Senate Bill No. 1155 or the MSME Stimulus Act to institutionalize support for MSMEs to facilitate their growth for job generation.

The bill highlights aid for MSMEs to sustain their operations in times of national emergencies, natural disasters, public health crises, and other unforeseen events that pose a risk to business continuity.

Under the proposed measure, MSMEs may avail of interest-free loans from the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines to support growth assistance, regional job creation, and continued business operation.

It also provides a wage subsidy to cover all or a portion of the wages of the employees of qualified MSMEs.

“There’s no more question about the purpose and passion of MSMEs to survive and thrive. What the government needs to do is to match these with programs and policies that would put the so-called economy’s backbone at the center of attention,” he furthered.