BAGUIO CITY, Nov. 23 (PIA) - - The Department of Trade and Industry affirms continuing support to Cordillera Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in this time of Coronavirus pandemic and calls for public suppor through patronage of local products and services.

DTI - CAR Assistant Regional Director Juliet Lucas reported in the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG - CAR)- led Dagyaw Open Governance virtual townhall meeting today that of the 24,716 registered MSMEs in the region, more than half are still not operating. Only 1,986 or 8.04 percent are still in operation while 8,927 or 36.12 percent are with limited operation.

To help the MSMEs re-start their business, Lucas shared that the DTI through the Small Business Corporation rolled out the P3 CARES (Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso COVID - 19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises) program.

For the first tranche of the a loan assistance program, SBP released a total loan amount of P76.85 million to 1,220 MSMEs in Cordillera.

Application for another batch of loan grantees is open at the SBP website. She assured that applications are properly validated and that loan slots are evenly spread to all regions.

The DTI also has the Negosyo Serbisyosa Barangay that already covered 287 barangays and the Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa program wherein 1,870 MSMEs were already assisted, 11,792 individuals provided with training and information on various livelihood opportunities and 1,347 livelihood kits provided, Lucas reported.

For continuing assistance to MSMEs, Lucas also reported that DTI - CAR has already established 45 Negosyo Centers and 152 Shared Service Facilities region wide.

To complement government assistance, Lucas enjoined consumers to also help MSMEs recover from the losses they incurred due to the COVID pandemic by patronizing local products and services.

"We hope that we will be able to really bounce back even as we look at our businesses being rebooted or reset because of the new ways of doing things and the shift in consumer behaviors. Let us buy local products. They are safer, they are traceable, and often times better than imported products. Loyalty to our products is foremost nowadays", Lucas said.

The Dagyaw townhall meeting is being conducted regularly in the different parts of the country in line with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's Good Governance Policy. Dagyaw is a Hiligaynon word that means "Bayanihan".

With the current COVID pandemic, the Dagyaw this year goes virtual so as to further strengthen the unity of the government and the Filipino people in working together for nation building and in ensuring a safe, harmonious and progressive country to live on. (JDP/CCD-PIA CAR)