Manila 2nd district Rep. Rolan Valeriano sees an opportunity rather than a disadvantage in US President Donald Trump’s implementation of a 17 percent tariff on Philippine exports.

It was because the Philippines was, in fact, one of the countries with the lowest tariff slapped by the Trump administration.

Some countries even get higher tariffs, such as Vietnam with 46 percent.

Valeriano believed that companies in countries with higher tariffs might just choose to build their own manufacturing plant in the Philippines or send their products here first prior to exporting to the US.

“Ang gawi ng mga malalaking kumpanya na producers ng consumer items gaya ng mga computers, cell phones, garments at food products, na ang merkado ay ang US, ay ilagay ang kanilang manufacturing facilities sa ibang bansa, kung saan mas mura ang labor at cost of doing business, kumpara sa Amerika (What some big producers of consumer items with US markets do is that they will move their manufacturing facilities in other countries with lower labor cost),” he said.

“Ang mga kumpanyang ito ay ang mga sinusuyo na maging investors ng Pilipinas, kalaban ang mga bansa sa Southeast Asia, China, India, Bangladesh at iba pang mga bansa (And the Philippines is trying to win these companies, along with other Southeast Asian countries, China, India, and Bangladesh),” he added.

And now that the products that will come from countries with higher tariffs will be pricier, it's gonna be actually an advantage for us since we have lower tariff, he said.

So the problem yields an opportunity, he noted.

“Gawin nating mas attractive ang ating investment atmosphere. Gawin mas mababa ang cost at
ease of doing business. Magtayo pa tayo ng mas maraming EPZAs, sa mga probinsya at mga syudad, (So let's make our country attractive as an investment atmosphere. Let's lower the cost of doing business as well as create more economic zones in the provinces and in the cities)” he said.

He also suggested lowering the tax for companies that generate more jobs and cut the red tape.