BY ELLSON QUISMORIO
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Local government units (LGUs) and national agencies should spare online sellers from the requirement to pay business registration fees, Ang Probinsyano party-List Rep. Alfred delos Santos said.
No less than President Duterte vowed in his fifth State-of-the-Nation Address last July 27 that government will intensify its efforts to help businesses, especially the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Delos Santos noted.
“I hope our LGUs and even the concerned national agencies will heed the call of President Duterte. Our small businesses need the government’s help and compassion, and I believe this is the right thing to do right now,” said the neophyte solon in the 18th Congress.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), some 7.3 million adult Filipinos have lost their jobs in April alone because of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has projected joblessness to reach as high as 10 million by the end of the year.
The party-list lawmaker said these economic uncertainties have forced many unemployed individuals to turn to entrepreneurship to make ends meet, selling food and all sorts of products mostly on Facebook and other online platforms.
“The adverse impact of the pandemic has created a new breed of Filipino business people with strong entrepreneurial spirit. Once again, many of our ‘kababayans’ have proven their resiliency and ability to rise above and to rise again despite adversity,” Delos Santos said. (Ellson Quismorio)
