Prospects and challenges in the implementation of barangay micro business enterprise program in the Philippine countryside

Abstract

The barangay micro business enterprise (BMBE) program enables microenterprises from the grassroots to access much-needed support and resources to help them thrive and succeed in their respective industries. Despite the foreseen benefits of this program, only a few small businesses availed. This scenario pushed this paper to uncover the low participation rate in the BMBE program and identify the prospects and challenges in its implementation in the Philippine countryside. This paper looked into the program implementation through a case study using an in-depth interview from purposely selected registered enterprises. The researchers used thematic analysis to process the gathered qualitative data. Findings revealed that the participation in the BMBE program can be attributed to the following generated themes: lack of information dissemination of the BMBE program, integration of BMBE program in the DTI activities, MSMEs initiative for business protection, availing of BMBE program benefits and incentive, and stringent application requirements of the BMBE program. Conversely, the following themes constitute the prospects and obstacles in the implementation of the BMBE program: challenges in the BMBE registration, benefits of the BMBE program, challenges of the BMBE registered enterprises, aspiration of the BMBE registered enterprises, and the effects of the TRAIN law to the BMBE program. With these findings, this paper hopes to widen the empirical evidence offered to the policy-makers in pushing for the development of microenterprises in the country.