A WEEK ago, the “Buy Pinoy, Buy Local” movement was launched at the Club Filipino, spearheaded by the Federation of Philippine Industries Inc. (FPI) and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry  Inc.  This much-needed summit was attended by more than 300 representatives from business, labor, academe, media, consumer and government sector.

The “Buy Pinoy, Buy Local” movement seeks to encourage Filipino consumers, businesses and both the national and local government to patronize locally made products and services meeting approved quality standards.  It also seeks to save and create jobs for the Filipino workers and protect the domestic market both private and government by providing them with quality products and services.

With a firmly established domestic consumer base, it is anticipated that this will further encourage more local and foreign investments, creating even more jobs for Filipinos and more taxes for the government.

Uplifting the Philippine economy must start from within, which is why the movement also aims to combat smuggling.  Legitimate manufacturers and service providers comply with all rules and regulations, provides employment to the Filipino labor force, as well as pay all the requisite taxes.

On the other hand, smuggled goods take this all away.  They do not pass through any product standards or offer any protection to the consumers, they do not pay the proper taxes and duties and they take away jobs from Filipinos.

Just how serious is smuggling in the Philippines?  Very serious!  Smuggling is costing the government billions in forgone revenues and loss of market for local businesses.  Records from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicate that exports to the Philippines from 2002 to 2007 amounted to $284.7 billion while the Bureau of Customs records only $195.01 billion, or a disparity of $89.69 billion.  This is an annual average disparity of $14.59 billion, taking into account the 12-percent value-added tax and an average duty of 5 percent, this translates to an annual revenue loss to the government of P127 billion, enough to wipe out our budget deficit!

FIRST Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), the investment-banking arm of the Metrobank Group, is seeking to expand its operations to include trust business.

The unit on Wednesday said its board had approved the amendment to its articles of incorporation and bylaws to redefine its primary purpose to include the conduct and business of a trust corporation.

The amendment will be subject to approval of stockholders, FMIC corporate information officer and senior vice president Danilo Olondriz told the stock exchange.

As a trust corporation, FMIC will be able to collect funds from the public or other institutions and invest them in financial assets.

Parent Metrobank already has existing trust operations, holding trust assets of P200.98 billion at the end of April, 36 percent higher than the figure recorded as of end-2008. It ranked third-biggest in terms of trust accounts among Philippine banks.

SB Capital Investment Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Security Bank Corp., successfully arranged a P3-billion syndicated term-loan facility for St. Luke’s Medical Center (Global City) Inc. to partially finance the completion of its state-of-the-art medical hospital facility in Taguig City.

St. Luke’s BGC (Bonifacio Global City) will become the second hospital to be owned and operated by St. Luke’s Medical Center,Inc. and is intended to serve the medical needs of the community as well as the international medical tourism market.

Similar to St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City, St. Luke’s BGC will be the most advanced hospital in the country, and will be equipped with world-class medical technology and staffed by the best medical, paramedical and support personnel, trained locally and abroad.

The medical facility will also feature institutes and centers of excellence that will offer state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment in all specialties of medicine.

Construction work on St. Luke’s BGC started in January 2007 and the hospital is expected to be in full operation by the fourth quarter of this year.