Invaluable government support for exporters

The recent trade fairs in China and Hong Kong seem to have given our exporters a little boost, judging from the success of these fairs and the booked sales/serious inquiries reported by the Philippine exhibitors in these fairs.

Some 20,000 visitors from 131 countries trooped to these two fairs, and from the Philippines, we had about 75 exhibitors who participated. These trade fairs unfortunately coincided with the terrible ash fall that threatened all of Europe and halted many flights out of the continent. As a result, many European buyers failed to go to the shows. An unfortunate occurrence indeed for all the exporters who were counting on the European buyers to boost their sales.

For the China Sourcing Fair, the booked sales only amounted to $146,000 but I understand that the negotiated sales are much more than that— $709,000. The Philippine Chamber of Handicraft Industries led the Philippine exhibitors here.

For the Hong Kong fair where we had a much bigger participation, the exhibitors were led by the Cebu Gifts, Toys and Houseware Foundation, Inc (Cebu GDF) and the Home Accents Group of the Philippines.

According to Mr. Jason Tan, president of the Home Accents Group, the Hong Kong show generated more than $1 million in sales for the Philippine exhibitors, thanks to the support of the Export Development Council (EDC) which facilitated the participation of some of their members who couldn’t possible afford the expenses entailed in joining foreign trade fairs like this. The logistics involved in putting up a booth in foreign shows could reach over P1 million, so many small to medium exporters balk at the prospect of joining these shows, but with the assistance of the EDF, many small scale manufacturers were able to go.

The Export Development Council is the agency tasked with managing the export support fund. They also promote local exports, especially during crisis times, and provide financial assistance to exporters who have good products to show but do not have the financial capability to join these trade fairs. The Council not only lends assistance for these foreign trade fairs, they also assist in our local ones like the Manila F.A.M.E., an annual show that many foreign buyers look forward to every year, and the recent Mindanao Trade Expo held in Davao where many small and medium exporters came to show their wares. Ms. Emma Mijares currently sits as Executive Director of this agency.

Anyway, our Philippine handicraft manufacturers have always distinguished themselves with excellent innovative designs. Gone are the days of plain abaca or bamboo crafts. They now use a mixture of medium—capiz, rattan, driftwood, sea grass, dried flowers and acacia combined with non-natural materials like metal or glass. The foreigners love it when eco-friendly materials are used to turn out exotic-looking mirrors, candle holders, etc. Way to go!

When does the bleeding stop?

I wonder what’s coming next for the LTO in the form of new add-ons to our already piled-high registration expenses.

The Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) members are confused, frustrated, agitated with the recent announcement of yet another P120.00 additional charge on insurance premiums for motor vehicles. According to them, the industry is already absorbing the P40-50 fee for every transaction that Stradcom, the service provider of LTO, is charging. They remit this directly to Stradcom, and now the service provider wants another P120?

Since they cannot possibly absorb this anymore, the association says this will have to be passed on to the motor vehicle owners. Mr. Michael Rellosa, president of the PIRA says, “Unang-una yung mga tricycles. Magkano lang ba ang premium ng mga yan? P200.00, and they want to add P120.00 more?” That is on top of the connectivity charges, emission testing, etc. What new charges are they going to think of next time?

When pressed for an answer why they are asking for an additional P120.00 fee, Stradcom said that this is because they have updated their system, according to Mr. Rellosa.

The thing is, the insurance industry has already come up with a working system called COCAF II, which they designed in consultation with the Land Transportation Office, the Insurance Commission (IC) and the Department of Finance/BIR. The system is fairly new, and according to the PIRA, it is apparently working satisfactorily for all the sectors concerned. So why the need for a new system to replace COCAF II? If it ain’t broke, why fix it and on top of it charge another fee for it?

When told that they already have a competent working system, the protagonists seemed to backtrack a little. They are now mulling a new scheme—P60 to P80, meaning P60.00 for tricycles and P80.00 for motor vehicles. PIRA is asking why there should be any increase at all when there is no need for new systems because what they have right now is working well.

PIRA says they are adamantly against the new ECOCDF system which the other side is bent on pushing. In a meeting they had with the LTO and the Insurance Commission, where the BIR was also represented, PIRA officers firmly stated their position. While the negotiations were going back and forth between both camps, they were surprised that there was a press briefing held about the additional charges. The PIRA president says they are in constant touch with the Insurance Commission and had no warning that this was forthcoming. He asked a Deputy Commissioner at the IC and he confirmed that there was indeed a circular effectively putting into effect Stradcom’s ECOCDF system (which makes the new P120 charge mandatory) but it has not been officially signed.

Who pre-empted whom with that press briefing?

As things stand now at the LTO, we the public have enough miscellaneous charges to pay on top of the basic registration charges and the basic insurance premiums. We may not notice it, but these “little” charges are growing and have metamorphosed into several hundreds. Where does it stop?

Anyway, PIRA’s prayer is simple: give their system (COCAF II) a chance to work out all the kinks in the entire system before introducing a new system (ECOCDF) and on top of it charging the public an additional fee for it.

Sounds fair to me.

Shooters’ festival

It started yesterday and will end tomorrow, Sunday—the annual convergence of shooters known as the Bolo Tuason Cup. On its 10th staging, this year’s NCR Area Championship at the Armscor range in Marikina shall be a Level 3 IPSC match, which will have 12 pistol stages.

Now an institutional event, the Bolo Tuason Cup is named as such to give due recognition to the Armscor head honcho who has untiringly espoused the sport of shooting in the country.

Watch some of the country’s best shooters pit skills at the Armscor range up to tomorrow.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Fiilipino.

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