The Small Business Corporation (SBCorp) is once again recognized as one of the Top Performing Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC) in the 2021 Corporate Governance Scorecard (CGS) by the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GCG).

The recognition affirms SBCorp’s continued adherence to best practices in terms of internationally accepted standards on good corporate governance. The Corporation was given a score of 101.04% with a rating equivalent of Outstanding.

“Our consistent top ranking in the past 4 years provides confidence to SBCorp’s stakeholders as the organization delivers transparent, accountable, and customer-focused services to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of the country. SBCorp strives to maintain sound corporate governance, consistent with the belief that it advances the organization’s mission and social outcome objectives by helping MSMEs grow and pillars of the country’s inclusive economic growth,” said SBCorp President/CEO Robert B. Bastillo.

MSMEs contributes 35.7% to GDP, employs 62.5% of the labor force, and constitutes 99.5% of all business establishments. Given this critical roles, the Philippine government – through the Department of Trade and Industry and SBCorp – supports the financing needs of MSMEs through innovative financing facilities such as the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) Program, the Bayanihan CARES Program and recently, the RiseUP Program. The Bayanihan CARES and RiseUP programs are financing programs funded through the Bayanihan 2 Act and specifically developed to mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic on MSMEs.

The GCG, in partnership with the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) established the CGS to raise the corporate governance standards and practices of GOCCs working towards at par with ASEAN state-owned enterprises. It was developed using a methodology benchmarked against the Principles of Corporate Governance of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard.

The CGS aligns with the Performance Evaluation System for GOCCs and improves the transparency of GOCCs, especially in the areas of level of adherence to best practice and international standards in terms of corporate governance.

A certificate of recognition was awarded by GCG chairman Justice Alex I. Quiros to SBCorp President/CEO Robert Bastillo in a ceremony held  last 5 December 2022 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). Also present in the awarding ceremonies are GCG commissioners Atty. Gideon D. V. Mortel and Atty. Geraldine Marie Bernabe-Martinez, SBCorp director Voltaire Magpayo and OIC-Board Secretary Atty. Livian May Sanchez-Llorito.