President Marcos is looking at prioritizing the purchase of locally-manufactured building materials for future infrastructure projects.
Marcos welcomed the idea pitched by the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) infrastructure cluster to go local, recognizing the importance of giving preference and priority to locally-manufactured building materials.
He said it is "a step towards the right direction" as preference and priority in the procurement of government projects should be given to local products that meet the specified or desired quality.
With this, the President ordered the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to closely coordinate with PSAC in coming up with the list of specific construction materials that can be used for government infrastructure projects.
He also tasked the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), through the Government Procurement Policy Board, to complement the policy of giving preference to local materials through relevant guidelines, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations.
“We have to match the capacity and the demand. But again, that if you can say that from now on, 100 percent of our – comes from the Philippines, magtatayo ng planta ‘yan (we will build plants) but we need to make everything clear, kung AO (Administrative Order) iyan or some other form,” Marcos said, referring to efforts to enhance local products.
In a meeting, members of the PSAC asked the government’s support to patronize the local industry as they emphasized that the Philippines have a lot of talents and products that are world-class quality, “if not at par even better” from its neighboring countries.
The council assured Marcos that local manufacturing industries are producing cement, steel and other construction materials that conform with the Philippine national standard designed to withstand the country’s climate and other natural disasters.
“Our advocacy is really to promote our buy local, Filipino-made products for Filipinos … it’s just fair for our government to take the lead, sir, in also patronizing our own locally-made products,” PSAC head Sabin Aboitiz said.