Villar seeks ‘Buy Pinoy, Build Pinoy’ month to help Pinoy MSMEs
DEPUTY Speaker and Las Piñas City Rep. Camille Villar have filed a measure seeking to proclaim the eleventh month of the year as “Buy Pinoy, Build Pinoy Month” to encourage the public to support Filipino entrepreneurs and to help them recover amid the pandemic.
In filing House Bill (HB) No. 5682, Villar recognizes the contribution of homegrown enterprises to the domestic economy, job generation and national development, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which employ more than 90% of the workforce and bore the brunt of the pandemic.
“As we transition to the economic recovery and revival, stronger support for local enterprises is crucial now more than ever. Assistance and support in the form of marketing, information, and capacity-building campaigns, which can be drivers of sales and advertisement, will be substantial to boost local businesses,” Villar said.
The Trade department shall be the lead agency in carrying out activities for the Buy Pinoy Month, which shall include wide-ranging trade fairs, bazaars, marketing missions, and other similar events that feature Filipino ingenuity.
Also, a national trade fair shall be held simultaneously in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao for at least two weeks in November.
The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) shall conduct a nationwide information and advocacy campaign for the Buy Pinoy, Build Pinoy Month activities.
“To declare November of each year as the ‘Buy Pinoy, Build Pinoy Month’ provides a huge marketing platform for a national audience, informs buyers of the positive implications of the celebration, and capacitates entrepreneurs to further improve their businesses. In addition, celebrating it during the month of November enables a strategic timing where consumers will have the chance to support local brands during the holiday season and still maintain a balance of choices in the free market while entrepreneurs gain marketing and sales from [prospective] consumers,” said the lady lawmaker.
Declaring Buy Pinoy Month will have substantial benefits for domestic firms “not only during the month of November, but other positive spillovers such as marketing and other skills can be experienced for the entire year,” she said.
The event will also “serve as a bridge for local businesses and consumers to maximize their existing value and interest and to communicate it to a broader horizon.”
