Proposed ‘buy local’ ordinance pushed at Cebu City Council

FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has proposed an ordinance that calls for the mandatory promotion and procurement of locally-produced goods and services to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Cebu.

Garcia submitted his proposed ordinance to the city council during its regular session on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. The proposed measure was then referred to the council’s Committee on Laws, Ordinances, and Styling for review.

Garcia’s proposed ordinance recommends for the allocation of at least five percent of the total procurement value of the Cebu City government, national government agencies (NGAs), regional line agencies (RLAs), and other government agencies holding offices in the city, for locally-produced goods and services.

Pass ‘Buy local ordinance’

This is in response to the request of the Regional Development Council in Central Visayas (RDC-7) enjoining local government units (LGUs) in the region to pass  “Buy Local Ordinance.”

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Under the program proposed by Garcia, in his proposed city ordinance, in every purchase of goods and services by the city government, NGAs, RLAs, and other government agencies holding offices in Cebu City, “consideration must first be made whether or not there are local counterparts of these products/services deemed to be purchased.”

The Desamparado couple, Mely and Boy, continue to grow their 30-year-old dried fish and pasalubong store business Niño and Khristy Drief Fish and Pasalubong Store in the Taboan Public Market. | CDN Digital file photo

Tokens, pasalubong centers

Moreover, at least 80 percent of tokens to be given in all activities of the Cebu City government, NGAs, RLAs, and other government agencies holding offices in Cebu City must be locally-produced goods and/or services with due regard to provisions of the Government Procurement Act.

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Likewise, at least 80 percent of the goods displayed in Pasalubong Centers must also be locally produced.

Garcia’s proposed ordinance will also work on the establishment of more Pasalubong Centers or market outlets for MSMEs to display or sell their products.

Garcia said Cebu City had approximately a thousand MSMEs who were into manufacturing or processing, making up at least 5 percent of the total number of registered businesses in the city.

This proposed measure will also support the Republic Act No.9501 or the Magna Carta for MSMEs, which provides that eligible MSMEs shall be entitled to a share of at least 10 percent of total procurement value of goods, services supplied to the government, its bureaus, offices, and agencies.

“The City government of Cebu has a legal and moral obligation to recognize the specific needs of MSMEs and shall undertake to promote entrepreneurship, support entrepreneurs, encourage the establishment of MSMEs and ensure their continuing viability and growth and thereby attain countryside industrialization,” Garcia said in his proposed measure.

/dbs