The government and the garments industry have given assurances of continuous funding for those pushing for passage of the proposed Save Our Industries (SAVE) Act in the US legislature, believing it has better chances now with the composition of the 112th United States Congress giving more priority to trade packages.
This, as Malacañang pitched in and urged Filipino-Americans to lend their support by writing their congressmen and senators to pass the measure, which aims to revitalize the country’s outmoded apparel industry which, in its heyday many years ago, provided 600,000 jobs for Filipinos and accounted for export receipts worth P3 billion
Ma. Teresita Jocson-Agoncillo, executive director of the Confederation of Garment Exporters of the Philippines, said the current Republican-led US Congress has been giving signals of being more accommodating to trade-related bills as compared with the previous Congress, whose focus was on US health-reform legislation.
“We stand a better chance now. From 2008 to 2010 no trade agenda moved. The difference now is in the 112th Congress. They are looking at reactivating all the trade packages. So it is a better field for us with the US Congress prioritizing trade agenda,” Jocson-Agoncillo told the BusinessMirror.
The Save Our Industries Act, which is seen to revive the Philippine garments sector and the American textile industry, was first introduced in the 111th US Congress, but failed to make any progress.
Jocson-Agoncillo said this was understandable, since trade packages were really not the priority at the time.
But with the composition of the US Congress changing, she said the industry and the Philippine government were determined to give the bill the added push, including the heightening of the lobbying and advocacy work.
She revealed that the garments industry, which spent about $80,000 last year in meeting with its private-sector counterparts in the US, is ready to pour in more funds this year to build up the business case for the bill and increase the support from the side of the Americans.
The government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), has scheduled the Fil-Am outreach program to gather support for the bill.
Thelma Dumpit-Murillo, head of the DTI-Garments and Textile Industry Development Office, said Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo had just renegotiated the contract with Washington lobbyist Sorini, Samet and Associates (SSA) to help the country’s cause in building up support from the American legislators.
The new one-year contract that was signed in March, Dumpit-Murillo said, is a performance-based deal and SSA will only be paid according to the deliverables that were set. The deal will be reviewed in September. “We have to make sure that the funds we are spending are really worth it,” she said,
The budget for the lobbying comes from the funds collected by the defunct Garments and Textile Export Board (GTEB). The GTEB funds, estimated to be around P300 to P400 million currently, have been surrendered to the National Treasury.
“There is no problem with the budget. We just have to make the appropriate requests with the DBM [Department of Budget and Management] because it needs to go through the normal budgeting process,” Dumpit-Murillo said.
She said the target is to have the bill passed by September because after that, the US legislators will be busy for the election next year.
Malacañang urged Filipino-Americans to “band together” to support the Save Act, by writing their congressmen and senators to pass the measure.
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a news briefing on Thursday that the government was trying to get more US lawmakers to support the bill.
He said the nearly 5 million Filipino-Americans in the US would have the collective voice to work for the passage of the bill.
“It would require them to lobby to their congressmen, it would require them to lobby to their senators. Like all legislators, they [US lawmakers] would also have their own particular interests. But it really needs a push from the Fil-Ams there. It certainly would benefit us if the Fil-Ams would lobby hard for this bill to their senators and congressmen,” Lacierda said.
“The Philippine government is pushing hard for that bill. In fact, we’re trying to secure more supporters both in the Senate and in the House. It’s a very important bill for us,” Lacierda said.
Asked whether Malacañang was more confident now of the passage of the measure than in the previous Congress, Lacierda said: “We don’t know yet. We are still in the process of securing more support. Some solons have already expressed their support, but we still need some more....It’s a different legislature, so we really need to lobby the bill.”
Among those pushing for the bill is Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, who was in the country last month.
(With M. Gonzalez)
