The Small Business Corporation (SBCorp) was recognized as the 5th Top Performing Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC) in the 2019 Corporate Governance Scorecard (CGS) by the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GCG). The recognition affirms SBCorp’s continued adherence to best practice in corporate governance, having previously placed 7th in the 2018 CGS.

The improved ranking provides confidence to SBCorp’s stakeholders as the organization delivers transparent, accountable, and customer-focused service to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. Further, SBCorp strives to maintain sound corporate governance, consistent with the belief that it advances the organization’s mission, fundamental goals, and social outcome objectives and puts MSMEs at the forefront of inclusive economic growth.

As a key pillar of the country’s economy, MSMEs contribute 35.7% to GDP, employ 62.5% of the labor force, and constitute 99.5% of all business establishments. Given this central role, the Philippine government – through the Department of Trade and Industry and SBCorp – supports the financing needs of MSMEs through special financing facilities such as the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) Program and, recently, the Bayanihan CARES Program. Bayanihan CARES is a PhP10.0 billion stimulus financing program 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 to be 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’ corporate governance initiatives and practices. It likewise aids GCG in identifying and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of GOCCs against existing corporate governance provisions, including level of adherence to best practice and international standards of corporate governance.

The full 2019 Corporate Governance Scorecard Assessment results have been released and posted on the GCG website and may be accessed through this link: https://gcg.gov.ph/files/o5iWe52DUqfQO8T9t9Ec.pdf