Deputy Speaker and Antique Lone district Rep. Loren Legarda wants to institutionalize the One Town, One Product (OTOP) Philippine Program to ensure the growth of the micro, small and medium enterprises in the countryside.
The House leader said the OTOP Program will serve as the government’s stimulus program for the MSMEs through the development of indigenous raw materials, and by utilizing local skills and talents.
“As the lifeblood of our economy, MSMEs now more than ever amid the COVID-19 crisis, should be provided support, both financial and in terms of capacity-building,” she said, citing that based on the 2018 statistics of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), 99.52 percent of all businesses in the country are MSMEs.
She filed House Bill No. 7672 or the proposed OTOP Philippines Act of 2020 to promote local products from a sector and from a locality.
“The program shall capacitate the MSMEs on product development, initiatives and training among others so as to be able to upgrade our MSMEs,” Legarda said.
HB 7672 seeks the creation of OTOP Management Committee within the DTI and the OTOP Program Office in each local government unit (LGU) to help achieve the objectives of the proposed law, she said.
The bill authorizes the DTI to establish the OTOP Philippines Trustmark, which is an assurance that the products under the program represent the country’s best.
The OTOP Philippines Trustmark shall signify that the businesses and products have been marked excellent in terms of quality, design, value, and marketability, it provides.
The bill provides that OTOP products included in the program must meet a set of criteria to be established by the DTI, provided that they are consistent with the following elements: culture, community resource, connection, creativity, and competitive advantage.
Legarda’s measure tasks the regional and provincial offices of the DTI to determine the beneficiaries of the OTOP Program, in cooperation with local government units (LGUs).
HB 7672 mandates the DTI and LGUs to make available a comprehensive package of assistance to OTOP Program beneficiaries, such as, but not limited to the following: product development, capacity building, standards and market compliance, and market access and product promotion.
The DTI shall serve as the lead implementing arm of the proposed Act.