Section 2May 6, 1997, Sec./Art. 2

Sec. 4 of Republic Act No. 6977 is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 4. Eligibility for Government Assistance. - To qualify for assistance, counseling, incentives and promotion under this Act, businesses falling under the above definition must be:

"(a) duly registered with the appropriate agencies as presently provided by law: Provided, That in the case of micro enterprises as defined herein, registration with the office of the municipal or city treasurer shall be deemed sufficient compliance with this requirement;

"(b) one hundred percent (100%) owned and capitalized by Filipino citizens if single proprietorship or partnership. If the enterprise is a juridical entity, at least sixty percent (60%) of its capital or outstanding stocks must be owned by Filipino citizens.

"(c) a business activity within the major sectors of the economy, namely: industry, services, including the practice of one's profession, the operation of tourism-related establishments, and agri-business, which for purposes of this Act refers to any business activity involving the manufacturing, processing, and/or production of agricultural produce, excluding farm level agriculture/crop production; and

"(d) it must not be a branch, subsidiary or division of a large scale enterprise nor may its policies be determined by a large scale enterprise or by persons who are not owners or employees of the enterprise.1aшphi1

"However, this requirement shall not prelude a small and medium enterprise from accepting subcontracts from large enterprise or firms joining in cooperative activities with other small and medium enterprises.

"Programs of the financing corporation as provided in subsequent Sec.s of this Act shall be exclusively targeted to medium, small, and micro-sized enterprises.

"Registered small enterprises shall be entitled to a share of at least ten percent (10%) of total procurement value of goods and services supplied to the Government, its bureaus, offices and agencies annually: Provided, That prices and quality of goods offered by the registered small enterprises are competitive."