JOINT STATEMENT ON ARISE/PESA

June 4, 2020

The undersigned business organizations support a second, more substantial economic stimulus plan along the lines of the Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy (ARISE) bill, formerly the Philippine Economic Stimulus Act (PESA) bill, to fight the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, protect jobs and help job-creating businesses, especially MSMEs, which employ more than 62% of our workforce.

ARISE would be an effective program for building on the Bayanihan Law and the measures President Duterte and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas have rolled out. It will serve as a powerful complement to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE) proposed by the Department of Finance. We appeal to the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Administration to have thorough but speedy deliberations to produce a law for this stage of the crisis and recovery.

We support the calls for President Duterte to call a special session of Congress to act on this and other similar legislation. A law along the lines of ARISE would act on the lessons that many countries are heeding from previous recessions: that swift, substantial intervention is needed. The Administration’s fiscal management has provided the financial strength and fiscal space to do this. We can and should increase stimulus spending to approximate or exceed those of many of our neighbors, according to some comparisons.