Local business group launches 'Buy PHL-made' drive

A nationalist business group appeals to all Filipinos to patronize locally-made products as it launches its "Buy Philippine Made" campaign. Bayan dela Cruz, president of the National Economic Protectionism Association, told GMA News Online over the weekend that the Buy Philippine Made campaign, which the NEPA launched last Sept. 27, aims to demonstrate that the country's economic capabilities and industry competitiveness could be developed if each Filipino begins to adopt economic nationalism as a "personal code" of sorts. "History shows that when Filipinos patronize Philippine-made products, the country developed its economic capabilities," he said. "During the '60s, at the height campaigns for economic nationalism, our footwear, textile, tiles, leather, and several other industries developed, enabling the country to be No. 1 growing economy in Asia, second only to Japan," he said. At the "Buy Philippine Made" launching, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said one of the most effective ways to fight poverty is to create jobs, and that this could only be achieved by having a national industrialization strategy. He criticized the government's Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program as it could not create jobs at all. "The CCT is a P39-billion program... pero hindi ito makapaglilikha ng trabaho... kaya hindi ito ang paraan para labanan ang kahirapan," the lawmaker said. In jest, he said: "Sana ibigay nalang itong pera na ito sa NEPA para sa pagpapalakas ng national industries." Also at the "Buy Philippine Made" launching, University of the Philippines economics professor Rene Ofreneo stressed that the only way to develop our economy is to adopt a protectionist policy, enough to develop the national industry. He said the US economy began to grow when the administration of George Washington adopted economic protectionism as envisioned by Alexander Hamilton, that is, to develop and protect the national industry to free the US from British colonialism at that time. "Ang ginawa nina Hamilton, pinataasan ang taripa, pinalakas ang kanilang mga industriya (car manufacturing among others) at nag-produce sila ng sarili nilang mga produkto," he said. He said he was not advocating total closure of economic doors like North Korea. "We are not against competition, we are for fair competition," he added. Moreover, he said economic protectionism has been practiced by Japan, south Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan since the 1950s. "Iniwan tayo ng mga bansang ito in the '70s, '80s neighbor sapagkat iniwan natin ang economic protectionist policy in the 1950s," he added. Also, he noted that today the US has the highest tariff rates for some protected products, "as high as 200 percent." In conclusion, he said that developed countries are what they are now because they maintained a protectionist economic policy. — Fernando dela Cruz/LBG, GMA News