We cannot roll over and play dead

Over lunch at a quaint seafood restaurant in Sidney, Vancouver Island, my daughter Alex noticed that menu was a mix of Greek, Chinese and Italian dishes. She said, "Wouldn’t it be great if one day, there would be a Filipino dish as well?" Our lack of presence in mainstream, global city, is not a result of an absence of Filipinos; they abound everywhere you go. What is missing is our lack of focus on grasping the opportunities that are staring us in the face to perfect, brand, promote and sell things we produce.

Mita Sevilla-Star, a Filipina living in Colorado Springs, expressed her frustration. She writes, "I shop in Oriental stores for my Philippine products and can get almost everything, even at the AFB commissary. It’s amazing (and quite irritating really) that most of the products being sold as Philippine canton noodles, Philippine patis, Philippine bangus, etc. are not made in the Philippines. It’s very frustrating because I would love to buy Filipino and somehow help our economy. These products are Malaysian, Thai and the bangus is from Taiwan. If other countries are marketing these products as ‘Philippine’ then they are certainly targeting Filipino buyers here in the US. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Filipinos in the Philippines supply the market here and in other parts of the world?"

What is the reason we lose grasp of the potential of maximizing our success? Have we given up on our potential as a manufacturing base? Would it not be possible to create miracles if we were to channel our energies towards focused goals? Where do we begin?

We could start where we are already successful like the coconut oil industry. The Philippines is the largest producer of coconut oil in the world with 1.2 million metric tons exported in 2001 earning US$800 million. We are the second largest grower of coconut with 10 million metric tons in 2001 second to rice. However, production has been declining and is sometimes viewed as a sunset industry. There are some 3.4 million coconut farmers and farm workers which mean that more than 20 million people directly and indirectly depend on the industry. The Coconut Industry Reform Movement warns that the industry has been beset by serious problems over the past 20 years. There is low farm productivity because 25 percent of coconut-bearing trees are senile or over 60 years old. In addition, there is a lack of proper agriculture and intercropping technology, fertilization, and good-harvest and post-harvest practices. Low farm gate prices for the farmers are a result of traditional layers of middlemen, lack of logistics and trade practices that have little social equity.

The Philippine Coconut Authority believes that there are opportunities to enhance global competitiveness if the coconut industry were to formulate strategies and enter into a greater degree of industry focus. PCA’s administrator Danilo Coronacion lists a five-point strategy including: reorganizing farm management to increase farm productivity; integrating processing capabilities to increase productivity, investing in greater value added coconut products; building cooperation with other coconut oil producing countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and India; and educating the market about the many beneficial and environmentally friendly properties inherent in coconut oil. An industry that benefits almost one third of our population urgently deserves clear focus and political will especially when there is so much money in the coconut levy fund that could be put to good use to launch a campaign amongst farmers to plant, reengineer trade practice to give farmers a chance to earn a greater share of the profit margins, promote coconut as great for your health...in essence a national policy and strategy that will ensure a prosperous future.

Then there is the idea from Basil Ong to promote our dried mangoes. He suggests that the Department of Trade invest, as Philippines Inc., in brand equity to penetrate the US mainstream distribution network, like Cosco, which is testing Filipino dried mangoes in selected stores. Although only one Cebu supplier is involved, there is an opportunity to find synergy with all dried mango producers, even with competitors, to supply the demand if and when the market accepts the product. In fact, Basil suggests that all dried mango suppliers form a consortium for production, to create a common brand name. "No more ‘R & M,’ no more ‘Inday’s,’ etc. but just the Pinoy bayanihan brand. "This is where the crab mentality that we are sometimes accused of could be overtaken by the bayanihan spirit that we used to be famous for," Basil says. It would be important for the DTI to give the Cebu exporter support at this crucial stage, even organizing trade attaches to be "promo people" or "merchandisers" at point of purchase. They could be dressed in Filipino attire, hand out product samples, offer tastings to drum up awareness and create excitement over the product. "We should back up our Filipino brand with our own unique imagery, and wonderful associations with, for instance, Filipino hospitality, etc. Our brand."

There are so many other examples. Our Filipino seafarers are currently the number one seafarer of choice serving 20 percent of the world’s merchant marine and cruise vessels. However, there is a lot that has to be done to counteract rising Chinese competition. Secretary Cito Lorenzo is working on branding Philippine coffee as Islas Coffee and this should receive full support. There are great opportunities if Mindanao Inc., or Zambales Inc. were to act together to identify their top 10 commodities, do everything possible to make them the best and most competitive, and to inspire everyone to rally around a brand identity. Basil emphasizes, "brand identity will mean ‘zip’ if we do not put effort into building the brand."

In fact, our hard work will mean zip if we do not focus our efforts in general. As far as many of our food products are concerned, reader Clifford Paragua says it is too late. He argues that the Thais have already reinvented the dried mango, round and evenly sliced and vacuum packed. The Taiwanese have taken the bangus trade. However, I am not as pessimistic. We just cannot afford to roll over and play dead. Let’s stand up, and get a grip on ourselves, and play a greater role in determining our future success.