Comparing the Philippines’ economy to a patient in a hospital, a business leader said in an Independence Day online forum that it is “still in the emergency room (ER),” but is fighting to survive—and to do so, will need the financial support of all Filipinos.
“If the economy were a hospital patient, it would be in the ER, intubated, and having a hard time breathing, but wants to live,” said Ambassador Benedicto Yujuico, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), at the launch of the online campaign #PinasMunaTayo, which calls on Filipinos to travel in the Philippines, dine at local restaurants, and patronize homegrown products as the country continues to lift lockdown restrictions, in order to restart the country’s badly hit economy.
“By reviving the economy, we can move our ‘patient’ from the emergency room to a regular room. When we revive the economy, people will have [financial] confidence again, whether they are consumers or business owners. Then we can start the ball rolling toward reopening, because the idea is for the ‘patient’ to go from emergency room, to regular room, to back home—and hopefully, we go back to where we were,” Yujuico added. “We’re almost in the regular room, and with care, we will get there soon, but everybody needs to cooperate.”
The #PinasMunaTayo online movement was spearheaded by the PCCI, Resorts World Manila and Alliance Global Group Inc. in order to advocate for “bayanihan” (community-building) among Filipinos so that they would choose to support local businesses first as the country continues to face this health crisis. Last Friday, Independence Day, marked the public sector’s official initiation into this campaign, led by agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Department of Tourism.
In line with the projects of participating government agencies, #PinasMunaTayo focuses on three components: “TriPinas,” to revive the tourism sector by promoting domestic tourism and destinations; “ShoPinas” to push for purchasing locally sourced and made products to support the retail sector, and “LasaPinas” to reinforce love for country by going for local food and hospitality experiences. The campaign encourages consumers to make conscious choices to help boost the economy post-COVID 19.What the average Juan and Juana dela Cruz can do to support the campaign, aside from making conscious purchasing decisions, is to post about their local experiences and promote them on social media using #PinasMunaTayo.
“When we patronize local [businesses], we help create local jobs and local income for our kababayan (fellow Filipinos),” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said. “If we buy imported, we help foreign countries and their employment, so that’s why it’s important that we increase domestic content and help the local manufacturers and suppliers.”
On the part of the DOST, Secretary Fortunato de la Peña said their research and technical assistance, especially for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, would all be for naught if local industries are unable to recover from the pandemic’s economic impact.
“A big portion of our target beneficiaries—whether we are doing research and development, different types of services, and providing training—are the different sectors of industry and business. If they do not grow, or are unsustainable, then our efforts will not be optimized,” De la Peña added.
Aside from relying on consumers’ social media posts, PCCI and Resorts World Manila will be producing #PinasMunaTayo stickers for retail and dining establishments to place in their stores to help increase awareness on the movement.
Alliance Global Group CEO Kevin Tan said that the conglomerate would work with the DTI in order to carry more local products in its physical assets, such as malls and resorts.
“We want to promote local tourism as restrictions are further eased, and perhaps partner with airlines, which have been badly hit by the crisis. We want to promote local destinations as well,” Tan said.
Resorts World Manila president and CEO Kingson Sian added that their foreign-branded hotels carry locally sourced, high-quality amenities and products. “These are products that we can be very proud of,” he said.
So when that much-awaited time comes when we can all book that next getaway, sit in a restaurant and shop like we did pre-COVID, Sian said to keep this tiny reminder at the back of our minds: “Pinas muna tayo.
(Let’s patronize the Philippines first).”