Launch of Mentor Me Program of Go Negosyo

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte sat along with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, and some micro-entrepreneurs to grace the “Mentor Me” program launch of Go Negosyo in his “Kwentuhan Session” with them at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City.

In his message, the President talked on the efficient transactions and processing of documents in some government agencies.

“Sa Customs ngayon, it’s three days ang release ng papers. Sa BIR, the most is ten days… Sa DTI, two days,” he said.

Likewise, he expressed his firm abhorrence towards corruption, and urged the citizens to speak up and file a complaint against corrupt officials.

“Sa pulis ba? Is it mayor or the policemen or the local government sa business tax clearance? Whatever. Let me know. Ngayon, maglagay ako ng PTV 4. Ang program ko, one hour. Wala ‘yan gawin. There’s nobody talking, just text. ‘Wag mo nang ibigay ang pangalan mo… Just text anong opisina, whether national or local, and who is the official causing the delay. I will immediately call him to Malacañang and I will demand an explanation why,” the President stressed.

After his town hall discussion with the entrepreneurs, President Duterte administered the awarding of Small Business (SB) Corporation Loan Checks. The awardees are the Kiyomi Garden with PhP 550,000 total loan amount; Paintline Printing Services with PhP 200,000; G.U. Amoren Food Products with PhP 200,000; Wally F.E. Group, Inc. with PhP 4 Million; and Abcris Enterprises with PhP 400,000.

Secretary Lopez also took the opportunity to discuss the 100-day report of DTI before the President and Go Negosyo community.

Some of the major accomplishments done by the agency were the establishment of 84 Negosyo centers with 116,782 clients served; 61 shared service facilities from July to October with 671 beneficiaries; 890 Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) roving academies with 30,528 attendees; the Project Kapatid and the Mentor Me seminars roll out with the Go Negosyo family in nine cities. These Mentor Me seminars in nine cities garnered a total of 3,100 participants, 113 mentors and professors.

“Ang ambisyon po natin, ‘yung mga maliliit ay maging small, maging medium at eventually maging large. Gusto po natin na mag-level up sila,” Secretary Lopez added.

Before leaving the event, President Duterte stressed how corruption and criminality affect the investments in the country.

“What could bring us down is really corruption and criminality. Walang papasok. Puro corrupt tapos madumi na magulo,” he said.

Secretary Lopez and Presidential Adviser Concepcion invited the President for this town hall discussion to talk on the administration’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development Plans.

Around 500 micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs from the Davao region, officials and staff from the DTI and Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship convened for the event. ●