Stakeholders have lauded the Senate’s approval of the Go Negosyo Act on third reading, saying it will help create more employment and income opportunities for all Filipinos.

“The entrepreneur community fully supports the Go Negosyo Bill as this will provide sustained assistance and mentorship support to MSMEs in all the provinces,” said entrepreneur Joey Concepcion, referring to the measure authored by Sen. Bam Aquino and approved by the Senate on the eve of EDSA 28.

“This (measure) will also facilitate the ease of starting and growing a business and spur regional development to create progress and prosperity in the region,” added Concepcion, who is also known for his all-out support for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Rody Bioco, president of Bukidnon Kaamulan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., echoed Concepcion’s view, calling the passage of the Go Negosyo Act as a “welcome development” and a “measure whose time has come”.

“Like government, we really hope to attract more people to open up businesses in our communities, but the hassles of putting up and registering a business, filing documents, [and so on] have become too burdensome,” Bioco said.

“We look forward to the day when ease of doing business will become a reality, so that we can attract more local and foreign investors to our area,” he added.

 Aquino, chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship, emphasized during the EDSA 28 celebration that “economic empowerment should go side by side with political freedom.”

“We should come together again to level the playing field and provide jobs for millions of Filipinos. In this sense, tuloy pa rin ang laban,” the senator stressed.

Aquino said the Go Negosyo Act can help fulfill both as the measure is envisioned to boost job creation and cut unemployment.

“With the Go Negosyo Act, we can boost job creation in many parts of the country, by ensuring the success and growth of MSMEs,” said Aquino.

 According to figures cited by Aquino, at least 66 percent of jobs in the labor force are generated by the MSME sector, which in turn comprises 99 percent of all enterprises in the Philippines.

The bill calls for the creation of Negosyo Centers, under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in each city and municipality around the country.

These Negosyo centers are meant to make it easier for entrepreneurs to register and start up their businesses, as well as gain access to sources of financing.

The Negosyo Centers will also provide courses and development programs, training, give advice on business conceptualization and feasibility, financing, management, capability building, human resources, marketing and other support services.

“This way, we are helping micro enterprises ‘graduate’ into small enterprises, and small enterprises graduate to medium, and so on. For many Filipinos, MSMEs can be the vehicle on the road to prosperity, but government needs to do its share in providing much-needed support,” said Sen. Aquino.