By Wilnard Bacelonia | Philippine News Agency
One of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s 12 priority measures he enumerated in his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) was approved on Monday, Nov. 6, by the Senate with 23 affirmative votes, zero negative, and no abstentions.
Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2426 or known as the “Tatak Pinoy” (Proudly Filipino) Bill mandates the formulation, financing, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of comprehensive and multi-year “Tatak Pinoy” Strategy (TPS).
It will also require the government agencies to collaborate with the private sector to ensure that all the strategies and interventions introduced would be focused on the expansion and diversification of the productive capabilities of local enterprises.
The TPS will be continuously improved upon by a “Tatak Pinoy” Council that will be led by the socioeconomic planning secretary as chairperson and the secretaries of Trade and Industry and Finance as vice-chairpersons.
During its period of interpellation, Senator Sonny Angara, who authored the measure, said the multi-year strategy, as proposed in the SBN 2426, will see to it that the entire government is “firing at all fronts” and collaborating closely with the private sector to achieve the goal of putting the Philippines among the ranks of the world’s most vibrant and strongest economies.
Angara cited Taiwan as an example, which in the past decades had a reputation of producing cheap but sub-standard products, but after imbibing the spirit of complexity, it has transformed itself as one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of high-tech goods and has positioned itself firmly in the global supply chain.
“We must have a commitment from all parties to move up to the production of higher-value products. There are infinite possibilities but finite time and resources. So we have to make difficult decisions such as focusing on products that could be big winners in the world economy,” Angara said.
He said the Philippines, ranked by the Atlas Economic Complexity as 33rd among 128 countries, has a lot of potential to produce complex and high-value products but this has yet to be unlocked.
“This is where the ‘Tatak Pinoy’ strategy and the TPC comes in to ensure that the philosophies of constantly improving, adding value, becoming more sophisticated becomes fully imbibed within our government and even in the private sector,” Angara said, noting that four representatives from the private sector will join the TPC as members.
“Tatak Pinoy” also calls for close collaboration between the government and the private sector to achieve a common goal of equipping and enabling Filipino industries and services to become more productive and competitive, producing more complex and higher quality goods.
It also calls for becoming an integral part of the global supply chain, providing high-paying, quality jobs for Filipinos and making the economy more vibrant.
It likewise aligns with the Philippine Economic Development Plan 2023–2028 and the new Philippine Export Development Plan, which Angara said are the building blocks to achieve strong economic growth.
