MANY years ago (2008), a revered family member was hired by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). His initial assignment was to provide added-value to the prestigious “One Town, One Product” (OTOP) project. This was supervised by DTI’s charismatic Region 7 Director, Asteria Caberte.
Much later, in 2020, Ms. Caberte obtained a deserved Head Office promotion. Last week, OTOP received a boost from the House of Representatives. The House approved on third and final reading a program which will institutionalize the OTOP program.
House Bill 1171 provides a stimulus package for the promotion and development of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to produce a package of assistance to develop more complex products with significant improvements in the areas of quality product development, marketability, production capability and brand development.
Sixteen centuries ago, in the dog-days of the Roman Empire, Bordeaux (South West France)’s version of OTOP was formalized. The lucky recipient was a newly-retired civil servant named Ausonius. He realized that there were ideal temperatures (25°C-28°C) which enabled grapes to produce wine of extraordinary quality.
Reportedly, the vintage of AD 383 was remarkable. The Brits were avid buyers and huge quantities of the excellent wine, now called Chateau Ausonne, were exported to the “land of good manners” (well at least we are not “bastos” by accident!).
This successful OTOP implementation created substantial economic benefits for the region. More than 1600 years later, the economy of this area of France is enormously buoyant as a result.
We believe that a similarly successful OTOP project could see similar successes at high altitudes in the Philippines where the climate can provide warm, but not excessively hot, temperatures.
The House Bill is eventually scheduled to become a Republic Act which will mandate DTI to establish the OTOP Philippines trademark which symbolizes the Nation’s best products and signify that the services and products have been earmarked as excellent in terms of quality, design, value, and marketability.
We hope this will become a much-needed catalyst for change in areas which require economic support./PN
