Bagong Buhay Boracay opens

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has opened a store in Makati City that showcases products of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from the now-shuttered Boracay.

The store, called Bagong Buhay Boracay, is at DTI’s Bureau of Domestic Trade and Promotions (BDTP) West Wing Showroom. It features food delicacies, wearables, fashion accessories, home décor and souvenir products from some 21 MSMEs that used to operate in the world-famous island.

These exhibitors have over 150 beneficiaries in Boracay, DTI said. Some items available for sale are products of social enterprises supporting out-of-school-youth in Boracay and Aklan.

“This is just the beginning of bringing Boracay products to the mainstream market. We will continue to extend financial, technical, design and marketing support to our MSMEs in the area even after the island reopens,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a statement.

This develops after the government shut down Boracay for six months, beginning late April, despite the reservations of various stakeholders, including businesses in the island.

The Duterte administration decided to close the popular tourism spot to address pressing environmental concerns.

The DTI said it would also bring Aklanon products to malls, supermarkets, pasalubong centers, airports, seaports, jetty ports in Manila, Cebu and Iloilo.

Some items featured in the Bagong Buhay Boracay store will also be carried by Kultura in SM Megamall.

“We guarantee our MSMEs that DTI will keep on providing holistic assistance for their products in terms of microfinancing support through the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3), product development, and innovation,” he added.

The P3 is a financing program intended to give MSMEs better access to finance and to reduce their cost of borrowing.

According to the DTI’s website, the program offers a one-day processing for loans, which will have an interest of up to 2.5 percent every month, wherein small players can borrow P5,000 to P100,000.