Several measures intended to enhance the capabilities, processes and quality of goods produced by Philippine enterprises took center stage in today’s hearing by the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship.
Senator Sonny Angara was designated as the subcommittee chairman to hear the bills since these are in line with his Tatak Pinoy (Proudly Filipino) advocacy.
For today’s hearing, the following bills were taken up:
• SBN 90 or the Exports and Investments Development Act (EIDA);
• SBN 97, 536, 538, 782, 1041 and 1441 or the Poverty Reduction Through Social; Entrepreneurship Act or PRESENT;
• SBN 319 or the Domestic Bidders Preference Act;
• SBN 628 and 793 or the National Quality Infrastructure Development Act;
• SBN 761 or the Institutionalization of the Shared Service Facilities (SSF) program of the DTI;
• SBN 1127 or the Philippine Accreditation Act; and
• SBN 1868 or the Protected Geographical Indications Act
“These bills are line with the efforts to support our local industries, level up our exports, create jobs and ultimately make our economy more vibrant and competitive with the rest of the world. This is the spirit of Tatak Pinoy,” Angara said.
SBN 90 seeks to amend the EIDA in order to strengthen the country’s exports by encouraging the production of more sophisticated and diversified products.
The PRESENT bill seeks to further the development of social enterprises in the country as a way to help communities and reduce poverty.
SBN 319 institutionalizes the Certificate of Domestic Bidders program of the DTI to help local enterprises, particularly those that produce goods substantially grown or manufactured in the Philippines by giving them preference in government procurement activities.
In SBN 761, the institutionalization of the DTI’s SSF program will ensure its funding and establish more of these facilities for the use of micro, small and medium enterprises.
SBN 628 and 793 seeks to develop a national quality policy that will help Philippine enterprises in enhancing their capabilities and producing goods that meet the standards of international markets.
The proposed Philippine Accreditation Act will establish a national accreditation system through the creation of a Philippine Accreditation Authority in order to improve the competitiveness and export potential of locally-manufactured products.
In the case of SBN 1868, this will safeguard the local producers’ superior quality of manufacturing and craftsmanship and protect consumers from disingenuous and substandard products that pose to be genuine.
“In order to be competitive globally, we must continuously find ways to enhance the capabilities and standards of our industries. We want to see them produce more complex products that will increase the value of our exports, grow our economy exponentially and provide our workforce with greater skills and higher paying jobs,” Angara said.
