big catalyst for this change in behavior. this is why i, in behalf of fellow filipinos, would like to thank you, ppmi leaders as well as pesonet and instapay payment service providers, for extending the ( 2 clicks ) waiver of fees. your altruism has helped break a major barrier for the first - time users of e - payment services. the realized savings from the waiver of fees matter to millions of filipinos, especially the underprivileged. the ppmi ’ s partnership with the bsp also brought into fruition an important payment facility for government institutions — the egov pay. over the past nine - months, the number of government billers enrolled in this facility rose 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches exponentially from just two when it went live in november 2019 to 277 as of june 2020. i would also like to thank the landbank of the philippines for hosting the linkbiz portal through which the egov pay can be conveniently accessed by users. another laudable accomplishment where the ppmi served as bsp ’ s indispensable partner was the adoption of the national qr code standard or “ qr ph ” via instapay. your efforts to make the qr ph for person - to - person or p2p payments available shortly after we have conceptualized having interoperable qrs must be commended. with the help of ppmi, we have likewise persuaded other government regulatory bodies to promote our automated clearing houses. i would like to specifically mention that the department of labor and employment has already issued labor advisory no. 26 series of 2020, encouraging employers to pay wages and other monetary benefits through transactions accounts maintained with pesonet - participating banks and e - money issuers. indeed, this is the beginning of a growing appreciation among the government agencies of the benefits of digital payments. of course, i will not miss to stress how our pesonet ach has come to aid in ensuring that the vulnerable sectors efficiently and safely received the government ’ s financial assistance during the lockdown. in particular, the pesonet was used by the development bank of the philippines to distribute the sss small business wage subsidy ( sbw s ) to 3. 4 million employees who were affected by the lockdown. in recognition of the critical role of the ppmi in achieving our vision of having a safe and efficient payment system, the bsp formally accredited the ppmi as a payment system

is also the year which will see the implementation of the third phase of our three - year business transformation plan and the successful completion of the three - year strategy. the necessary preparatory work under the transformation plan has largely being completed and we hope to take the first step towards achieving financial sustainability. another significant milestone in 2008 is the establishment of the sme credit bureau, a watershed event in cgc's evolution. the bureau is a source of credible and reliable credit information that serves the needs of both the smes and the potential financiers. this reflects the natural progression for the cgc in its continuous efforts to enhance access to financing by smes. the establishment of a sme credit bureau, by cgc in strategic collaboration with dun & bradstreet, would no doubt complement the other initiatives of the government and the financial sector in promoting growth and development of smes. we have seen how ccris, where real - time and comprehensive information on consumers'credit exposures and history is readily available. such availability has served as a valuable source of information in credit assessment and help expedite loan processing time. in the same vein, with greater availability of information on smes from the bureau, the processing time for sme loans can be similarly shortened and decisions to grant financing can be made based on a more comprehensive set of information. we hope and encourage the financial institutions to avail themselves of the services provided by the bureau and help create a healthier and more transparent credit culture amongst the smes and lenders. i would now like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the award recipients today. we hope the recognition accorded by cgc will help to create a better understanding of the spirit behind this initiative, which is aimed at fostering mutually beneficial working relationship between the cgc and the financial institutions for the over - arching objective of promoting sme sector development. you have certainly given us your unwavering support through your active participation in our guarantee schemes. we look forward to your greater participation in the future. on another note, i would take this opportunity, in conjunction with our 35th agm, to thank all employees of cgc for their understanding and commitment in adopting and adapting to changes. this include the internal organizational change that we have been through in the past two years to face the challenges of the dynamic business environment of today. thank you for the kind attention and have a pleasant day.