That’s right, from local to global, it’s the only way to go, grow, and glow before a worldwide audience!

At Likhang Filipino’s latest edition now showing at Citem on Roxas Blvd., Philippine-made products are proof that it’s a good feeling to conquer the world again and again, with our imagination, our hands (with the help of some machinery), and our entrepreneurial spirit. President BBM, fresh from a visit to Dubai, congratulated the artists, artisans and craftsmen who have been and are stamping “Made in the Philippines” on their products.

First Lady Liza Marcos, who shared our cocktail table, couldn’t be prouder, listening to her husband or admiring the colors, intricacies and types of weaves, which cost about ₱1,000 per yard. FL Liza was in a pretty terno with black beads and like the rest of us awestruck listeners, clapped enthusiastically each time PBBM scored a point and connected with his audience. As he put it, when you’ve got a good product, you don’t need too many words because you let the product speak for itself. In Dubai, for example, Filipino expats there are top of their class.

There were diplomats in the crowd, including the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown, Singapore Ambassador Constance See, US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson, who will soon leave us for a new posting, and Mme. Imelda Marcos in her favorite color, red. I also spotted my friends KPE, Mina Gabor, Ching Cruz, Tony Lopez, Lulu Tan Gan, Sonia Olivares and her daughter Maja Olivares Co, Lisa Nakpil, Joy Fong, Maurice Lim, Raul Sunico.

Going around the exhibit, I was amazed at the variety of weaves and colors, mostly in Indian cotton. Pale pink to deep purple, sunshine yellow to moss green, some of them infused with golden streaks, the finished products were sourced from as far as Sultan Kudarat and the T’boli.

A lady’s jacket combined two types and colors of weaves, priced at ₱4,500, a simpler one was ₱2,900.

A pity that the exhibitors did not provide any reading material other than a CITEM envelope stamped with the headline, “Local Roots to Global Routes.” CITEM – short for Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions – was a brainchild of Roberto (Bobby) Ongpin back when the first Ferdinand E. Marcos was president.