'Buying Pinoy products may stop continued migration'
KIMBERLY JANE TAN, GMANews.TV
06/06/2009 | 06:22 PM
MANILA, Philippines - A local manufacturers' group on Saturday said that the patronage of Filipino products could in the long run stop the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
“Kasi ang paniwala namin, kapag bibili ka ng produktong lokal, eh tinutulungan mo ang manggagawang Pilipino at mamumuhunang Pilipino at maiiwasan mo rin ang smuggling [Our belief is that if you buy local products, you help Filipino workers and investors, you also avoid smuggling]," said Jesus Arranza, president of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), in an interview aired over Vice President Noli De Castro’s weekly radio program.
This, he said, may be achieved through the “Buy Pinoy, Buy Local" campaign, which is the joint advocacy of the FPI and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc.
Arranza said “Buy Filipino, Buy Local" means the patronage of any Filipino-made product, whether it is a foreign brand, made from imported raw materials, or owned by foreigners, just as long as it was made by Filipino workers.
He said the public should espouse this campaign because even the United States included the “Buy American" policy in its 2009 Stimulus Act.
“If the US, which is the champion of globalization and a signatory to the Government Procurement Act saw the wisdom of ‘Buy American’ in its law, we in the FPI do not see the reason why we should not mandate ‘Buy Filipino’ in our law also," he said in a separate statement.
If this takes off, said Arranza, the Philippines will be able to attract investors.
A similar campaign ia also been pushed by some Filipino community groups in the Middle East, which is host to more than 2 million overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
Community organizations have been campaigning among their members to patronize Filipino products as a way of helping those who are at home.
“Ang punto namin, we will attract investors. Bakit? Eh paano ginagarintayahan mo na ang produktong gagawin niya sa Pilipinas ay tatangkilikin ng buong Pilipino kasi gawa rito," he said.
[Our point is that we will be able to attract investors. Why? Because we can guarantee that Filipino-made products will be bought by Filipinos because it was made in the country]
He said this will also entice domestic manufacturers to increase their capacities, which will subsequently result in more employment.
“This campaign will save and create jobs," he said.
In turn, Arranza said the creation of local jobs would allow OFWs to stay home for good.
“Kung tayo’t magsigasig at magkaroon ng labor at home, mababawasan yung mga broken families, nakakaawa rin ang mga tao, ayaw rin naman nila pumunta dun," he said.
[If we are hard-working enough to produce jobs at home, we can decrease the number of broken families. I pity OFWs, many of them don’t even want to go abroad]
The FPI will hold exhibitions of local products in various cities in the Philippines.
“We will duplicate this in each city and promote local products," he said. - GMANews.TV
“Kasi ang paniwala namin, kapag bibili ka ng produktong lokal, eh tinutulungan mo ang manggagawang Pilipino at mamumuhunang Pilipino at maiiwasan mo rin ang smuggling [Our belief is that if you buy local products, you help Filipino workers and investors, you also avoid smuggling]," said Jesus Arranza, president of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), in an interview aired over Vice President Noli De Castro’s weekly radio program.
This, he said, may be achieved through the “Buy Pinoy, Buy Local" campaign, which is the joint advocacy of the FPI and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc.
Arranza said “Buy Filipino, Buy Local" means the patronage of any Filipino-made product, whether it is a foreign brand, made from imported raw materials, or owned by foreigners, just as long as it was made by Filipino workers.
He said the public should espouse this campaign because even the United States included the “Buy American" policy in its 2009 Stimulus Act.
“If the US, which is the champion of globalization and a signatory to the Government Procurement Act saw the wisdom of ‘Buy American’ in its law, we in the FPI do not see the reason why we should not mandate ‘Buy Filipino’ in our law also," he said in a separate statement.
If this takes off, said Arranza, the Philippines will be able to attract investors.
A similar campaign ia also been pushed by some Filipino community groups in the Middle East, which is host to more than 2 million overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
Community organizations have been campaigning among their members to patronize Filipino products as a way of helping those who are at home.
“Ang punto namin, we will attract investors. Bakit? Eh paano ginagarintayahan mo na ang produktong gagawin niya sa Pilipinas ay tatangkilikin ng buong Pilipino kasi gawa rito," he said.
[Our point is that we will be able to attract investors. Why? Because we can guarantee that Filipino-made products will be bought by Filipinos because it was made in the country]
He said this will also entice domestic manufacturers to increase their capacities, which will subsequently result in more employment.
“This campaign will save and create jobs," he said.
In turn, Arranza said the creation of local jobs would allow OFWs to stay home for good.
“Kung tayo’t magsigasig at magkaroon ng labor at home, mababawasan yung mga broken families, nakakaawa rin ang mga tao, ayaw rin naman nila pumunta dun," he said.
[If we are hard-working enough to produce jobs at home, we can decrease the number of broken families. I pity OFWs, many of them don’t even want to go abroad]
The FPI will hold exhibitions of local products in various cities in the Philippines.
“We will duplicate this in each city and promote local products," he said. - GMANews.TV
