MANILA, Philippines - The trade and industry committee of the House of Representatives has promised its full support to the One-Town-One-Product (OTOP) program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
“The OTOP Program can count on the House in terms of budget support, enactment of enabling laws, and the judicious exercise of legislative oversight to back up the same program,” trade and industry chairman Rep. Albert Garcia said.
He noted that last month, after extensive deliberations, the House passed the 2012 budget of the DTI under next year’s proposed General Appropriations Act or GAA.
For SME development alone, the House approved a total budget of P402 million which shall be used for, among others, entrepreneurship and skills training, policy studies formulation, and MSME development advocacy.
“On the part of the Committee on Trade and Industry, expect us to work doubly hard in pursuing laws that will make the local environment more conducive for doing business, improve access to markets and financing, and boost the productivity and efficiency of MSMEs,” Garcia said.
“I wish to take this opportunity to inform you that the Committee is now in the thick of preparations for the plenary debates on the proposed Anti-Trust or Fair Competition Act of 2011,” he said.
When finally passed, this law is expected not only to protect consumers from unfair trade, anti-competitive conduct and combinations in restraint of trade, but it is also aimed at levelling the playing field for micro, small and medium enterprises by preventing the concentration of economic power who threaten to control production, trade or industry in order to stifle competition, distort, manipulate or constrict the discipline of free markets, and increase market prices in the Philippines.
The Committee on Trade and Industry, he said is looking forward to holding more dialogues and consultations through our regular Committee meetings and public hearings in order to better understand and appreciate the plight of our small entrepreneurs, inasmuch as laws and programs affecting SME development form integral parts of our Committee’s jurisdiction.