French bazaar offers RP products

With the daunting announce-ment of the STAR headline yesterday "Italy, Israel sending home 200,000 Filipino illegals", and the continued influx of deportees from Malaysia, one can imagine how many more jobless will be added to the rank and file, and what havoc this will wreak on our rapidly crumbling economy.

In this light, how welcome is the news, for what it is worth, that the French Embassy and the Alliance francaise de Manille will be holding, from Sept. 9 to 15, the first Franco-Filipino NGO Bazaar and Exhibition which will showcase and highlight Filipino skill and artistry.

Venue will be the South Court, East Entrance Plaza Drive of Powerplant Mall in Rockwell Center, Makati. Fittingly, Mrs. Rhoda Yap, Assistant Secretary for SWD Policy Programs, Plans and Standards, and French Ambassador Reneé Veyret will cut the ribbon as guests of honor at the opening ceremonies.

Benedicte Meysson, press cultural attaché of the french Embassy, informs me that various Philippine products e.g., furniture, handicrafts, garments, bags, etc. will be on sale at reasonable prices with proceeds going to our impoverished communities.

In this regard, 15 Franco-Fil non-government organizations, aiming to uplift the lives and improve the subsistence standard of the Filipino people, have joined various government agencies and local government units for this cause-oriented charity event.

The public has long wondered why the Philippines, which produces so many exportable items, has not achieved self-sufficiency and, consequently, must forever remain in the list of "Third World" countries.

Ilocano and Igorot weaves are not only durable but also colorful and eye-catching. Each time I am invited to "cover" cultural events in Iloilo or Bacolod, I re-discover their barquillos, mango tart, piyaya polvoron, hojaldres, assorted biscuits – delectable sweets comparable to any of their kind abroad. And our silvanas are "heavenly"! Why aren’t they being exported, along with native bags, sandals, table linen, lamps, picture frames and the like?

May I call the attention of Assistant Secretary Rhoda Yap to the dire and pressing need of standardizing the quality of our products and of professionalizing their packaging to render them more attractive? It is obvious, of course, that the greater the incentive and impetus to promote our products, the more perceptible the increase of our exports. Equally significantly, if our politicians were more concerned in promoting our goods than in promoting themselves, the country’s economy would be greatly bolstered.

I, for one, relish our mangoes, lanzones, atis, sineguelas, oranges (dalandan), mangosteen, langka, sampaloc and santol just as much as Vice-President Teofisto Guingona does. As for other produce Baguio growers complain that our vegetables come from Taipei, China, etc.

Relative to this, I recall Menchu P. Concepcion, wife of Ronnie, a stalwart of industry, proudly carrying a native handbag which matched her elegant dress, likewise of native fiber, at a gathering hosted by Tereret Tambunting Liboro. At the recent book-launching in Malacañang, I was heartened by the sight of Menchu (again) wearing a kimona, and even more heartened when she told me, "This keeps so well, I’ve been wearing it for years!"

By contrast, it is distressing to hear many of the so-called elite boasting to each other how often they shop abroad for their shoes, handbags, jewelry, accessories, etc. Being presumably enlightened and nationalistic, shouldn’t they be the first to patronize and protect our industries?

As for the French, they are demonstrating, through the bazaar and exhibition, a typical gesture of theirs: noblesse oblige. Merci beaucoup!

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Owing to previous commitments, and the late invitation, I shall regretfully miss the "Twin Song Recital" tonight of noted painter-sculptor Allan Cosio and arts-and-crafts manufacturer, Rudy Cundangan, with Jude Areopagita as assisting pianist at the Dalisay Aldaba Hall in UP, Diliman.

Among the arias Allan will sing are the challenging Recondita Armonia and E Luce Van Le Stelle from Tosca by Puccini. Rudy will render arias, kundimans and popular classics like Lara’s Granada. Pianist David Lanz will play two numbers.

Hearty congratulations!