Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario admitted that pushing for the passage in the United States Congress of a garments legislation that is favorable to the Philippines is a tough crusade but vowed to continue the fight for it relentlessly to ensure job generation and help revive the ailing textile sector in the country. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will have to remove two to three sections of the “cut and sew” portion of the Save the Industries Act to reduce the waived duties of the United States to $200 million, a ranking government official said. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines have agreed to water down the Save the Industries Act bill lodged before the US Congress by reducing the garment categories to nine instead of 17. Read the rest of this entry »

ASIDE from being the Director of the DTI Public Relations Office, I also head the Garments and Textile Industry Development Office (GTIDO) as its Executive Director. When I assumed office this year, it was right smack in the middle of a long-drawn out advocacy campaign for the SAVE Act which began in 2008. It is a US market access issue which is a significant component of the Garments Transformation Plan considering that more than 80 percent of our garments and textile exports go to the US. Truly, it is disheartening that while the Philippines remains America’s strongest ally in Asia, no bilateral trade agreement exists between us. And so news that the White House has certified urgent to Capitol Hill some trade pacts offered a glint of hope that maybe this time, we just might have that opportunity. The US National Journal writes: Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON – Support for Save Our Industries act among US legislators is growing and the measure, which seeks to allow Philippine-made apparel using US fabrics to enter the United States duty free, could be taken up by the US Congress in the coming months, said Philippine ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines — The domestic garment and textile industry has opposed a plan by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to transfer the function of Garment and Textile Industry Development Office (GTIDO), the agency which oversees the industry, to the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the government’s export promotions arm, saying the move fell short in understanding the current realities in the industry, which is now based on contract manufacturing rather than price points and government-sponsored marketing programs. Read the rest of this entry »

THE Save Our Industries Act, a bill in the US Congress that would enable the freer entry of Philippine-made garments into the highly lucrative US market, would be re-filed in the current 112th Congress after it was snubbed in the last legislative session. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines -  The move for SAVE Act to be passed in the US Congress is gaining momentum in key cities all over the US, the Garments and Textile Industries Development Office (GTIDO) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said. Read the rest of this entry »

The lobby in support of the SAVE Act which is pending in the US Congress is gaining momentum in key cities all over the country. Read the rest of this entry »