Legarda Expresses Support for Small Businesses, Farmers at Sikhayan Festival 2013

MANILA, January 18, 2013-Senator Loren Legarda today expressed her support for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at the opening of Sikhayan Festival 2013 at the City Plaza of Santa Rosa, Laguna.

“Sikhayan Festival 2013, with its theme Pagsisikhay ng Mamamayan, Tungo sa Pag-unlad ng Pamayanan, celebrates the ingenuity and hard work of our citizens, as well as their contributions to the overall progress of the country. It is important to hold these gatherings because it gives them a chance not only to showcase their products, but also to learn new strategies and gather support for their ventures,” she said. 

Legarda, author of both the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and the Barangay Livelihood and Skills Training Act, detailed that the MSME Law passed in 2008 provides more assistance to entrepreneurs by requiring lending institutions to allocate at least eight percent (8%), an increase from the previous six percent (6%), of their total loan portfolio to micro and small businesses. It also provides access to new technologies and regular entrepreneurship training programs for workers to ensure the viability and growth of MSMEs in the country.

“We have to utilize the available resources in the country, encourage the development of the exceptional creativity and artistry of Filipinos, and vigorously implement our laws in order to promote the growth of MSMEs as a main driver of our economy,” she added.

“I am one with the local government and residents of Santa Rosa in recognizing that the efforts of every entrepreneur, every employee, is vital to our growth as a people. Together, we will make the excellence of the Filipino known to the world,” Legarda concluded.