MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law on Monday, February 26, a bill formulating a comprehensive “Tatak Pinoy” (translated as “proudly Filipino”) strategy, in a bid to better support local industries and associate the Filipino brand with high-quality products.

“The Tatak Pinoy is more than a branding exercise as it is about incubating and incentivizing great products that deserve to carry the ‘made in the Philippines’ trademark. It’s not about simply slapping labels on goods and services but showing their provenance, proudly, that they are ‘Tatak Pinoy,'” Marcos said in a speech in Malacañang on Monday, February 26.

Republic Act 11981 seeks to encourage local industries to produce more sophisticated products, which would in turn elevate the country’s position in the global value chain, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.

The government is hoping that the law’s passage would improve the country’s position in the Atlas of Economic Complexity, which measures a nation’s capacity to make more complex products. The Philippines currently ranks 33rd out of 133 countries.

The newly passed law will assemble a Tatak Pinoy Council, which will be tasked with developing a multi-year strategy in areas of human resources, infrastructure, technology and innovation, investments, and sound financial management.

Senator Sonny Angara in 2019 filed a resolution calling on his colleagues to look into the formulation of a “Tatak Pinoy’ campaign, to “highlight the ingenuity, creativity and innovativeness of Philippine workers, craftsmen, laborers and professionals in order to create a global demand for Philippine products and services.”

He and Marikina 2nd District Representative Stella Quimbo were the main proponents of the measure under the present Congress.

The bill was listed as a priority measure of the Marcos administration. – Rappler.com