Business groups seek support for local enterprises

MANILA, Philippines - Business groups were pleased with some of President Aquino’s pronouncements during Monday’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), but said they wanted to hear more about the government’s plan to provide more support for local enterprises.

Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PhilExport) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said in a telephone interview yesterday that they were hoping to hear plans to extend more support to businesses and exporters.

He said they also laud the plan to promote the tourism industry.

Aquino said in his SONA that before the end of his term, infrastructure projects like the Bohol Airport in Panglao, Legazpi Airport in Albay, and Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental are going to be completed, while other international airports will be upgraded.

Ortiz-Luis said small and medium enterprises are finding it difficult to avail themselves of loans due to the requirements set by banks.

“We hoped he would have mentioned export support since he already mentioned the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector, which is a dollar earner, too,” he said.

In an interview over the weekend, Ortiz-Luis said PhilExport is concerned about how the government would manage strengthening the peso to levels workable for exporters and overseas Filipino workers.

PhilExport warned earlier that while the country’s exports were expected to grow by 10 percent this year from last year’s $47.967 billion, a further strengthening of the peso could warrant a revision of the projection to minimize losses of exporting firms.

Federation of Philippine Industries Inc. president George Chua told The STAR that they were waiting for Aquino’s statement on how to level the playing field and improve business processes.

“We wanted to hear about the plan to streamline business processes and to cut red tape,” he said.

Chua added they were also concerned about the unemployment figures that Aquino mentioned in his SONA, saying it does not tally with that of independent agencies.

Aquino said in his SONA that unemployment is declining steadily with the unemployment rate, which was recorded at eight percent in 2010, dropping to 7.2 percent in April last year and falling further to 6.9 percent this year.

Chua said they also wanted Aquino to mention plans to support the local manufacturing sector. 

Morale booster

The military, on the other hand, is upbeat about the prospects of a bill seeking to fund the Armed Forces’ modernization program as mentioned by Aquino.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said the upgrading program would benefit not only the soldiers but also the public.

He gave assurance that the biddings for the equipment would be transparent and their procurement plan was subjected to studies and scrutiny.

The Armed Forces Modernization Act, which took effect on Feb. 23, 1995, has given the military the opportunity to modernize in 15 years with a total fund of P331 billion.

The implementation of the law, however, has been stalled due to lack of funds and it lapsed in 2010 without achieving its purpose of modernizing the military.

The Defense department wants to implement 138 projects designed to upgrade the Armed Forces’ capabilities. It aims to approve the contracts of these projects by July.

Among the Defense equipment to be acquired in the next five years are communication devices, lead-in fighter trainer jets, closed air support aircraft, long-range patrol aircraft, radar systems, and engineering equipment. – With Alexis Romero, Dino Balabo, Eva Visperas, Celso Amo