The Philippine government has allocated a total of P500 million to provide soft loans to help small companies to pay the 13th month of their employees.

During the ''Laging Handa'' public briefing, Small Business Corporation Spokesman Bobby Bastillo said funds for the soft loan program has increased from an initial allocation of 200 million to 500 million pesos.

"We increased it to 500 million (pesos) now. It can now cover around 6 to 7,000 companies depending on how much loan each and every company will apply," he said.

Bastillo said the government will prioritize the loan application of around 11,000 micro and small companies based on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

He explained that not all companies listed in the database meet one of the requirements of having the maximum of 20 employees.

He also announced that the acceptance of online applications for the soft loan program will start next week.

"We are now preparing the system because starting November 2 we will start to accept online applications on our website until December 7, 2021," he added.

Bastillo said aside from online application and the number of company employees, the requirement also includes business permit from barangay to those who will loan a maximum of P50,000 and mayor's permit for companies that will avail larger amounts or more than P50,000.

The government used the minimum wage of P12,000 per employee as standard for the loan amount that can be provided to each company under the program.

"We use standard to make it simple so if they have 10 employees it will be times to 12,000, they can loan 120,000 pesos, it will be open to micro and small businesses with the maximum of 20 employees," he said. Robina Asido/DMS