Bayan Muna solons want probe into unused Bayanihan 2 funds for MSMEs

Lawmakers from Bayan Muna are seeking an investigation into the reported unused funds under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) aimed at aiding micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In filing House Resolution 2519 on Thursday, Representatives Carlos Zarate, Eufemia Cullamat, and Ferdinand Gaite urged the House committee on good government and public accountability to conduct an inquiry into the P4.99 billion unused Bayanihan 2 funds.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly worsened the economic crisis in the country and has strongly intensified the hardships experienced by the Filipino people. In December 2021, the unemployment rate climbed up to 6.6% translating to about 3.27 million jobless Filipinos," the resolution read.

"All resources allotted to respond to the pandemic and to aid citizens amid the worsening economic conditions should be distributed in a timely and effective manner to alleviate the suffering of ordinary Filipinos during the pandemic," it added.

The Commission on Audit, in its report, stated that the P4.99 billion or 54.96% of the released budget under the Bayanihan 2 was unutilized as of June 2021.

State auditors said the Small Business Corp. (SB Corp.), a state-run company under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), had been allocated P9.08 billion for the implementation of its COVID-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) program.

However, SB Corp. was only able to use P4.09 billion as of mid-2021 to extend loans to 28,222 MSMEs, 23,687 of which were micro enterprises, 3,057 were small enterprises, 729 were medium enterprises, and 749 were unidentified enterprises.

The COA mentioned that the first major challenge that may have caused the unused funds was the “insufficiency” of SB Corp.’s human resources.

It also noted the “hesitancy of potential clients” to avail the financial assistance, noting that only 48,010 MSMEs or 4.82% applied out of the 995,745 potential clients of SB Corp.

In a statement, the Department of Budget and Management expressed its support for the proposed congressional probe.

"We welcome the proposal of the Bayan Muna party-list solons to conduct a House probe on the unused P4.99 billion loans for MSMEs as reported by COA," Budget Undersecretary Rolando Toledo said.

"The Department adheres to its mandate to release government funds in a timely and prudent manner based on budgeting rules and regulations, hence we immediately released the funds under Bayanihan 2 to the the SB Corp. through the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). This was released last October 30, 2020," he added.

SB Corp, according to Toledo, can provide specifics on how the funds were used. —AOL/VBL, GMA News