Ipinanukala ni Senator Pia Cayetano ang pamamahagi ng subsidiya sa mga pamilya at indibidwal na nais mag-expand pa ang kanilang home-based at micro-business bilang tugon sa COVID-19 pandemic.

Sa naganap na Senate finance committee hearing kamakailan ukol sa 2022 budget of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), ipinanukala ni Cayetano na mabigyan ng subsidiya ang mga kababaihan at maliliit na entrepreneurs.

Pinunto ng senador ang gampanin ng kababaihan sa mga tahanan at ang kontribusyon nito sa ekonomiya bilang “unpaid work” kung saan nitong pandemya ay lalo silang naging kapansin-pansin.

“Many mothers have had to stay home to become ‘full-time’ teachers to their children who are studying from home. Even older sisters and young women with nieces and nephews are tasked to look after the younger children in the household instead of working outside the home,” ani Cayetano, chairman ng Senate Committee on the Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation, and Futures Thinking.

Empleyadong lasing, patay matapos sapakin ng ginising na katrabaho

“The good news is, the entrepreneurial spirit of Filipinos finds a way to shine,” pagtutukoy ng senadora sa mga home-based at online business na lumago nitong nakalipas na dalawang taon.

“I am sure everyone has a daughter or ‘pamangkin’ or knows of a teen or young adult who has started a business at home during the pandemic. All of us have exchanged these goodies that we bought from these [budding] entrepreneurs who are making all these brownies, cupcakes, everything,”pagpupunto ni Cayetano.

Gayunpaman, binanggit din ni Cayetano ang kalagayan ng mga kababaihan na kabilang sa lower income families na mayroon ngang entrepreneurial skills, wala namang capital.

“Girls that come from the middle or upper economic classes have easier access to capital and have the opportunity to start a business. But those from the lower income group don’t have that kind of access,” sabi ni Cayetano.

“They should have access to capital,”apela niya.

Hiniling ni Cayetano kay NEDA Secretary Karl Chua na ikonsidera ang panukalang bilang “proactive stimulus package.”

Vanne Elaine Terrazola