Manila, Jan. 13 -- Sen. Joel Villanueva on Tuesday said strengthening micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) remains key to generating sustained employment, as he urged the government to refocus spending priorities to support the sector.

Villanueva said the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) should be geared toward enhancing the competitiveness and sustainability of MSMEs, noting that job growth must be assessed realistically on a month-to-month and year-to-year basis.

"We must improve on our employment figures on a month-to-month and year-to-year basis for a realistic job growth figure and one strategy to raise employment is by strengthening the lifeblood of our economy, the MSMEs, through focused government support. Where MSME...