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De Guzman pushes P125-B 'stimulus' for MSMEs, to use GIR for 'industrialization'

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Josiah Antonio, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Leody De Guzman files his Certificate of Candidacy for president at the Harbour Tent at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City on October 06, 2021. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/11/25/20211006-election-filing-de-guzman-leody-jc-4.jpg"/><figcaption>Leody De Guzman files his Certificate of Candidacy for president at the Harbour Tent at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City on October 06, 2021. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — Partido Lakas ng Masa presidential aspirant Leody De Guzman on Thursday bared a P125 billion stimulus plan to help small businesses recover following the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>De Guzman also said he wants to use part of the country&#x27;s gross international reserves (GIR) to fund the country&#x27;s &quot;industrialization&quot; instead of using it to stabilize foreign exchange rates.</p><p>In a statement, De Guzman said his “wealth tax-funded” recovery plan will include a public jobs generation program that will also provide a fixed wage subsidy for 1 million employees of MSMEs. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/05/21/leody-proposes-aggressive-jobs-generation-program-to-address-unemployment-rate-spike">Leody De Guzman proposes ‘aggressive’ jobs generation program to address rising unemployment rate</a></li></ul><p>“Government support for small business was lacking and not distributed efficiently at the height of the recession,” De Guzman posted on his official Facebook Page.</p><p>He said millions of workers lost their jobs or received lower wages and benefits because of the government’s negligence of the MSME sector. </p><p>The labor leader said the P125 billion budget is estimated based on the <a href="https://www.dti.gov.ph/resources/msme-statistics/" target="_blank">data of the Department of Trade and Industry</a>.</p><p>De Guzman said his policy team estimates that 4.67 percent of small firms are still closed, meaning around P125 billion of MSME capitalization has yet to be recovered. </p><p>The labor leader said it is vital to protect MSMEs employees that make up around 63 percent of the labor force based on DTI’s 2020 data. </p><p>“We need to protect MSMEs because millions of workers are relying on them. They are not like big monopolies that have a larger capitalization and have faster credit access to banks and financial institutions. Hence, the lives of livelihood of those employed in big businesses were not as threatened,” De Guzman said. </p><p>He also said he plans to set up a “People’s Sovereign Wealth Fund” to finance local industrialization by aggressively investing in MSMEs.</p><p>The fund will be initially financed with $50 billion from the country&#x27;s gross international reserves held by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which reached $107.9 billion as of October this year, he added.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/12/21/ph-gross-intl-reserves-at-10795-b-in-october">PH gross int&#x27;l reserves level at $107.95 billion in October</a></li></ul><p>“Let us invest in &#x27;working class enterprises&#x27;, rather than use our dollar reserves to protect the foreign exchange rates and the interests of big importers.”</p><p>Central banks use their international reserves to stabilize the value of their currencies versus other currencies. </p><p>The BSP has said that the country&#x27;s latest GIR figure is equivalent to 10.8 months&#x27; worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, and 7.8 times the country&#x27;s short-term external debt.</p><p>De Guzman meanwhile said MSMEs should not worry about his proposed P750 national minimum wage and the abolition of all forms of contractualization. </p><p>He said MSMEs will benefit from higher wages and job security because this will give Filipinos more purchasing power, which will help local businesses. </p><p>“The demand for their goods and services will correspondingly increase.” </p><p>To counter the tendency of prices to increase with higher demand, De Guzman said the government would intervene, regulate and control power rates and fuel prices.</p><p>De Guzman joined the 2022 presidential race, along with more than 90 others.</p><p>The other presidential aspirants include Vice President Leni Robredo, Sen. Panfilo &quot;Ping&quot; Lacson, Sen. Manny Pacquiao, Sen. Bong Go, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, and former Sen. Ferdinand &quot;Bongbong&quot; Marcos.</p><p>The Commission on Elections will trim the list in the coming weeks to remove those found to be nuisance candidates.</p><p>The official campaign period for May 9, 2022, elections will begin only on Feb. 8, 2022.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1832937" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><div> </div>

Leody De Guzman said he will provide a P125 billion stimulus for small businesses, and use part of the country's forex reserves for industrialization. 

De Guzman pushes P125-B 'stimulus' for MSMEs, to use GIR for 'industrialization'

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De Guzman pushes P125-B 'stimulus' for MSMEs, to use GIR for 'industrialization'

Josiah Antonio,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 25, 2021 09:52 PM PHT

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Halalan 2022

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MSMEs recovery plan

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