IT IS NOT often that we see the enactment of a law that was crafted with lofty aspirations and with a potential to be a game-changer for our country.
After five years of conceptualizing, continuous research and consultations, the Tatak Pinoy or Proudly Filipino bill is now a law (Republic Act 11981). We thank President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for sharing our vision and supporting this measure as one of his administration’s priority bills.
The backing of the President went a long way in getting this bill moving in the legislative mill.
Our gratitude also goes out to all our colleagues in the Senate for their full support to the bill and to the House of Representatives, particularly to Reps. Stella Luz Quimbo and Mario Vittorio Mariño, as the author and sponsor of the counterpart bill respectively.
As a background to the Tatak Pinoy Act, we came up with the concept way back in 2019 after going through the Atlas of Economic Complexity, the seminal work of Drs. Ricardo Hausmann of Harvard University and Cesar Hidalgo, who used to be with MIT and is now with the University of Toulouse in France, which showed that countries that produce more sophisticated and diverse goods and services enjoyed greater prosperity compared to others.
The Philippines actually fared well in the Economic Complexity Index developed by Hausman and Hidalgo—ranking 33rd out of 131 countries in 2021. The data suggests that the Philippines has a lot of potential that has yet to be unlocked. We are already on our way to be among the ranks of the world’s fastest growing economies and we just have to take the necessary steps to break through.
This is what we aim to achieve with the Tatak Pinoy Act. It is about highlighting the important role of Filipino industries in the long-term economic development and prosperity of the country. With Tatak Pinoy, they will be provided with the tools necessary to support the ecosystem to compete in the global market.
Tatak Pinoy is about pursuing a reinvigorated productive development policy that supports world class and competitive Filipinos and their products.
It is about institutionalizing a multisectoral, programmatic, evidence-based and market-driven policy framework through which government agencies and the private sector work together towards empowering domestic enterprises, making them become globally competitive, and assisting them so they produce more sophisticated products, more exceptional, world-class services. A whole of nation approach is what is needed to achieve these goals—government and the private sector working as one towards progress.
At the center of the law is the Tatak Pinoy Strategy (TPS) that will serve as the roadmap for the government and private sector on empowering targeted “Tatak Pinoy” industries so that they can come up with sophisticated products and services to the global markets. Specific plans and programs under the TPS will be organized according to five pillars: Human Resources, Infrastructure, Technology and Innovation, Investments, and Sound Financial Management. We need to ensure that our people are equipped with the skills needed by the Tatak Pinoy industries so that they will no longer have to find work overseas.
To support the development of Tatak Pinoy industries towards becoming “world beaters,” government must provide the infrastructure and facilities that they will require. Innovation and technology transfer will also be key to the transformation of these industries to producers of high-value and complex goods and services. Target sectors and industries will be given all the help that they need to grow, including the grant of relevant fiscal incentives and the budgetary support for expenditure priorities under the fiscal program of the government.
A Tatak Pinoy Council (TPC) will be created, composed of the DTI, NEDA, DOF, DA, DBM, DICT, DILG, DOLE, and DOST. The TPC will serve as the policy-making and advisory body to the President. It will be tasked to develop and implement the TPS.
The Tatak Pinoy Act will put in place key programs and initiatives that will help the target industries in their growth and development. This includes the establishment of green lanes to facilitate the processing and approval of permits, licenses and other documents required for their operations. The BIR will ensure faster processing of VAT refunds for Tatak Pinoy enterprises. The TPC will facilitate market access and engage in the promotion of goods produced by the Tatak Pinoy industries, both domestically and overseas. The government financial institutions will provide low-interest, flexible loan programs and other instruments for the Tatak Pinoy enterprises.
We still have a long way to go before we join the ranks of the world’s fastest growing economies. But with the Tatak Pinoy Act in place, we are ensuring that the entire country will be moving in the same direction while traversing the road towards industrialization.
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Sen. Sonny Angara has been in public service for 19 years—9 years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and 10 as Senator. He has authored, co-authored, and sponsored more than 330 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.
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Email: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara/PN
