Senate shooting prompts foreign buyers to postpone PH trips
Foreign buyers of garments and furniture have postponed scheduled trips to the Philippines this month after the gunfire at the Senate, according to the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines.
FOBAP president Robert Young told The STAR that four foreign buyers scheduled to visit the Philippines to place garments and furniture orders informed the group that they were postponing their trips following the gunshots fired inside the Senate building last Wednesday.
Three of the buyers are procuring garments and textile, while one is sourcing furniture products.
Business groups have also expressed concern over the incident and its potential impact on stability and investor confidence.
The gunshots took place as Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, was staying in the Senate premises.
“They’re scared,” Young yesterday said.
He said the buyers were supposed to discuss their buying program and show Philippine exporters samples of the products they wanted to source.
“This could be like $300,000 (around P18.5 million) (worth of export orders),” he said.
He said it is not clear if these trips will be rescheduled at a later date and if the buyers will still place orders.
He also said the standoff and gunfire at the Senate, which drew international attention, raised concerns over the Philippines’ business standing.
For FOBAP, the incident could affect the foreign investors’, buyers’ and tourists’ perception of the country in terms of safety, security and trust in Philippines’ institutions and justice system.
“The Philippines must do all necessary remedy to this crisis and the damaged reputation so that we can still continue our business in the export industry,” he said.
Other business groups also expressed concern over the incident as the country contends with economic challenges.
“The business community is concerned that continued political noise and public confrontations within government institutions risk distracting leaders from far more urgent economic challenges facing the country,” Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) president Donald Lim said.
Amid slowing growth, rising costs and global uncertainty, he said businesses want to see faster action, stability and decisive governance instead of prolonged political maneuvering.
He said investor confidence is not only influenced by economic policy, but also by the perception that the government remains focused, coordinated and capable of executing its priorities.
“MAP hopes our leaders move quickly to restore stability, reduce political distractions and refocus national attention on the economy, jobs, investments and the welfare of Filipinos,” he said.
For her part, Federation of Philippine Industries chair Elizabeth Lee said that businesses and industries need assurance that institutions remain strong and resilient, laws are upheld and governance continues to function with transparency and accountability.
“Investor confidence is built through consistent quarters of transparent governance, credible reforms and where the rule of law is upheld,” she said.
“Each step toward strengthening institutions signals to both domestic and foreign investors that the Philippines remains committed to integrity, stability and opportunity,” Lee added.
PCCI concerned over grid alerts, outages The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday raised concern over the recent grid alerts and widespread rotational blackouts and called for urgent action amid risks to the economy.
In a statement, PCCI said that the recent red alerts and rotational outages hit both the Luzon and Visayas grids on Wednesday, and left over 200,000 businesses and households without power for an average of three hours.
It said that the country is experiencing unstable supply at a time when the economy is already under severe strain.
PCCI said the situation is particularly alarming in the Visayas, where the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines has placed the grid under red alert from 3 to 8 p.m. and yellow alert from 8 to 9 p.m. on May 13.
Compounding the situation, it said 12 power plants have been on forced outage since March this year, while 15 plants are operating at derated capacities.
“Energy instability is not just a regional issue, it is a national economic risk. With growth already at 2.8 percent and inflation rising, prolonged brownouts will further weaken productivity, investor confidence and household welfare,” PCCI president Ferdinand Ferrer said.
The PCCI is pushing for better contingency planning and transparent communication during grid alerts.
The group also cited the need to fast-track reforms that incentivize renewable and alternative energy investments.
In addition, the PCCI urged the government to address systemic inefficiencies in power generation and distribution and to prioritize vulnerable sectors most affected by blackouts and inflation.
This article originally appeared in The Philippine STAR.