Exploring Alternative Responses to Unfair Trade

The PATAMABA Experience

1. REELING FROM GLOBALIZATION and LIBERALIZATION

   Globalization, smuggling, trade issues, excessive increase of oil and the economic crisis, slowing down of sales in local and export market are the main problems that confront home based workers particularly women. In the Philippines, low priced products from China and Korea and other parts of Asia has also affected the sales of the local producers. These products can be found elsewhere and are sold not only in Metro Manila but also in the Visayas and Mindanao regions whose unabated spread directly compete with locally produced products.

   With the severe decline of the garments industry where women homebased workers are working, many of them practically lost their main source of income. Women’s incomes, aside from being irregular, decreased as piece rates also went down. Some tried other means of alternative livelihood that are usually inherent in the area, like hawking and selling vegetables, ice buko, pandesal, and other food items; fetching water; and accepting laundrywork. However, the high prices of raw materials as well as the lack of much needed capital prohibited them from pursuing income-generating activities as self-employed workers or micro-entrepreneurs.

   Realizing that on their own, economic activities done individually, still was not sufficient to meet even the family’s basic needs. PATAMABA (National Network of Informal Workers), as an organization, initiated the development of alternative and sustainable livelihood through group enterprises as a long-term strategy for addressing the risk of ever smaller orders and piece rates.

   Reeling from the economic downturn, women homebased workers feel that they need to develop at present a strong marketing network that will complement their livelihood activities. To really make a difference, they have to promote trade among themselves, and between themselves and other consumer groups locally, nationally, regionally, and globally.

2. ACCESSING PRODUCTION AND MARKETING ASSISTANCE

   Towards facilitating greater access to productive resources, PATAMABA implemented from January 2004 to January 2005 an enterprise development grant from Oxfam Hongkong. The project aims to assist women homeworkers in improving their current economic activities especially in the areas of production and marketing. Entitled Strengthening the Marketing Network of Women Workers in the Informal Economy Towards Advancing Fair, Just, and Sustainable Trade, the said project involved eight PATAMABA pilot areas as recipients of P100,000 each under the individual/enterprise group project: Angono (group enterprise), Balingasa (budbod sustansiya), Pangasinan (basketry), Apugan, Cordillera region, (weaving), Pinangga (hand embroidery in ethnic designs), Tarlac (group enterprise), Bicol (weaving and embroidery) and Cebu (fashion accessories). Expected outcomes from the said project were: better livelihood, increased income for members, and marketing and promotions assistance.

   Pilot areas were selected in accordance with the following criteria: 1) products with market potential (domestic and export); 2) production capacity in terms of volume; 3) with market outlet on site that can be developed; 4) with stable, responsible leadership that can handle financial transactions with proper accountability; 4) working conditions of workers; 5) accessibility and transport costs; and 6) with access to computers.

   The selection of products from each local site for possible production, development and merchandising were wide and varied, given the strong motivation among PATAMABA local chapter members to engage in various income generating schemes as their means to augment daily sustenance. In the implementation of the project, final criteria for product choice have been narrowed down to include: 1) Capacity for volume production; 2) Marketability, with market niche; 3) Product packaging; 4) Product image; and 5) Competitive pricing.

   Research on the eight pilot areas showed that products such as bedroom slippers, ‘budbod sustansya’ (powdered vegetops), detergent soaps, polvoron (powdered candy), taho (soya bean curd), pili nuts, bed covers and throw pillows are often used in every household and have the potential even in the local market that even members can sustain its production by patronizing it.

   Local and foreign tourists consider products from Cebu (shell craft), Pinangga, Baguio (woven items), Pangasinan (handicrafts) still attractive especially when these are showcased in tourism promotion sites and Pasalubong (gifts)Centers. The experiences of the PATAMABA national marketing committee with regards to participation in bazaars and local trade fairs and in WOW Philippines (located in Intramuros, Manila, a flagship project of the Philippine Tourism Department) affirm that products from Pangasinan, Baguio and Cebu faired well not only among foreign and local buyers but among export-geared institutions as well.

   In the research that was undertaken, sales reports indicated that if given the chance to increase their capital, production will likewise increase that will likely result to producers earning more.

3. LEARNING FROM PRODUCERS’ CONDITIONS AND MARKET TRENDS

   PATAMABA’s participation and exposure in marketing activities through the Oxfam Project served as training ground for the enhancement of their skills in marketing and for adopting new techniques in buying and selling in accordance with marketing trends. All the more, the realization that foreign products such as used clothing from national and local sources sell more than those produced by our local manufacturers surfaced. However, there were encouraging sparks with regard to local products produced by PATAMABA members, such as Baguio hand woven products as well as soap, slippers, throw pillows and garments from Rizal – these items sell very well. ‘Budbod Sustansiya’ (powdered vegetops) has the potential to go higher given the initial results of their production and sales. The shell craft of Cebu and bamboocraft and native products of Pangasinan can compete in the export market due to their high quality and sustainability to current trends.

   The training and its results helped members market their products, especially those with no regular stall or no market at all. It also improved product quality from the suggestions taken from customers who were asked for comments regarding the products. Contacts for wider marketing were made during participation in bazaars, exhibits, trade fairs, and tiangges (flea markets). A system of recording sales and product inventories has also been developed.

   Market research and product inventory as well as systematic recording system are very important tools for PATAMABA producers to consider in determining business opportunities. Hence, with assistance from OXFAM Hongkong, PATAMABA was able to assist local chapter producers in eight pilot areas of the project in terms of market research study, product development, capacity-building on enterprise development, and lobbying, advocacy and networking capability of members using a gender perspective.

   Similarly, the OXFAM HK project added valuable exposure and awareness among PATAMABA member-producers on the issue of fair trade and social marketing along with their strong advocacy and networking at the national and local levels. Campaign materials such as IEC materials and video documentation had proven effective in their advocacy work.

   A lot more work needs to be done to better assist home workers in their business endeavor so that they can fairly compete with other products in the local market, such as improvements for better packaging and labeling of their products and formal registration or licensing of their group business/enterprise, techniques in product cliniquing, innovative and technologically updated marketing, etc. For example, in the case of food producers in Tarlac and Balingasa, and even pili nuts producers in Bicol, product testing as well as product preservation know-how to extend the shelf life of perishable products are deemed very important. This requires some intervention from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) and other agencies and groups helping women in the informal economy.

4. PARTICIPATION TOWARDS ALTERNATIVE RESPONSES TO UNFAIR TRADE

   A. Mutual Support (Tangkilikan) Among Local Community Groups

   Home based workers and other workers in the informal economy, have heeded the call of “tangkilikan” and other mutual support movements, whereby fair trade groups are motivated and mobilized to patronize each other’s products. Spearheaded by PATAMABA at the community level, trainers have promoted the concept of social enterprise. They have conducted numerous alternative skills training in communities where traditional homeworker products and jobs are in decline.

   Patronizing local products through the tangkilikan scheme will benefit members at the forefront of production, as well as members who do not have the capacity to rent commercial spaces for their products. Social marketing is the program’s key factor that will guide a group in its campaign towards patronizing local products done by an individual member or a group enterprise.

   The experiences of PATAMABA members in group enterprise formation in some pilot areas reflect the importance of mutual support within the community and supplemented as well by proper networking. The PATAMABA Angono chapter, for example, as the duly recognized voice of the informal workers in the locality, receives full backing and support from the Angono Informal Sector Task Force. Its history of productive engagement with national government agencies, local governments, trade unions, NGOs, academe, cooperatives and other groups cannot be overlooked. In 2004, PATAMABA acquired a productivity center that also houses an office and showroom. Rented at P2,500 per month, it can accommodate many workers and still maintain good working condition. Economic activities (such as production of bedroom slippers, candle wax, detergents, powdered candy (polvoron from vegetops) and fashion accessories) are undertaken in the center, carried out in phases and timed when demand is deemed marketable. For example, candlewax production intensifies in October, when demand becomes high in observance of All Saint’s Day. Detergent production is now undertaken on a regular basis due to its demand among PATAMABA members, as well as the women and housewives in the community. To further bolster the local economy by addressing organizational sustainability as well as extending assistance to local producers in marketing their products, PATAMABA Angono hopes to launch a program that is patterned after the “Ithaca Hours” soon. Registration requirements imposed by the Department of Trade and Industry has been the major cause of delay in its implementation. Towards this end, the group will sell coupons worth P100.00 each (which members can buy at P95.00), to be used for purchasing goods from the PATAMABA productivity center and also from members who are selling other products or services like manicure, shiatsu, reflexology, etc. Annual rebate of 2% will be granted to members. Proceeds of the project (from the P5.00 discount on coupons) will be deposited in a bank identified by the organization.

        PATAMABA Balingasa Chapter (National Capital Region) allocated the Oxfam enterprise development grant through a group enterprise with diversified product line. The production and marketing of school uniforms, fashion accessories and beaded apparels is an on-going group enterprise activity. While the Budbod Sustansya Project (powdered vegetops mixture) initially produced only polvoron (powdered candy), it has slowly, but surely expanded into a bakery, aptly named Lusog (healthy) Bakery that now specializes in 21 types of cookies and breads, with Budbod Sustansiya as special ingredient. Further networking with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) made possible the sourcing of an additional 1 million grant in 2006 for a 3-year project, that includes provision for bakery expansion. Lusog Bakery is well supported by the community, including the children, who now comprise part of the group’s growing client. As stakeholder of the Budbod Sustansiya technology, the Balingasa chapter leader, as trainor, had already shared her ‘trade secrets’ to Bali, Indonesia and Malaysia. To date, the group dreams of acquiring a larger production area with proper ventilation and lighting, and reasonable provision for sanitation and healthy environment.

        The ‘Ilaw ng Tahanan’ (Light of the Home) in Barangay Dumarais, La Paz, Tarlac, is a community based cooperative formed by PATAMABA members, and affiliated with the Tarlac Municipal and Provincial Federation of Cooperatives. The Oxfam Project helped in enhancing the group’s capability in product development and promotion and in strengthening networking skills. What challenged the group was the process of identifying which products to focus on (with particular concern on accessibility of sourcing and stable domestic market potential). Clustering five members together to work for one product line was indeed a wise move. The focus of production are processed food items such as tinapang tilapia (smoked fish), peanut butter, tocino (processed meat) and soya products (soya yoghurt or ‘taho’, soya milk iced candy, and ‘tokwa’ or soya cake). In addition to providing lending services to members, the cooperative keeps a store where group enterprise products are sold and patronized by members and other residents in the community. In a recent joint venture with the Department of Agriculture, San Miguel Corporation and the Federation of Cooperatives, the group’s peanut butter (labeled Golden Farm) and smoked fish (labeled Golden Pond) were showcased at a food festival in SM Megamall, with the former adjudged as best product. For the other products, the PATAMABA group hopes that more assistance will come so that further improvement on labeling, promotion and marketing will be realized.

   Meanwhile, various products of pilot areas are displayed and for sale to walk-in customers in the PATAMABA office cum showroom located in Maginhawa St. UP Village, Quezon City. Also, PATAMABA continuously participates in local bazaars or trade fairs especially within Metro Manila to promote and sell the products of home based workers’ group enterprise. Members at the local level particularly in the eight pilot sites also regularly participate in local trade fairs in their locality.

   B. Developing Capability in E-commerce

   PATAMABA has been developing e-commerce capability through continued cooperation with organizations through website. With the knowledge gained during seminar on website development provided by WINNER-TIPS and ISIS-Manila, project activities under OXFAM funding were uploaded in the website of Homenet Southeast Asia (www.homenetseasia.org) as well as products and producers and outputs of research study.

   Eppie Labajo, PATAMABA fashion accessories supplier, whose workshop is situated in Laray, Cebu affirms the potential of on-line marketing (her products are showcased in the website of WINNER-TIPS) and how far reaching this medium has attracted a number of buyers. Referring to the more recent article that featured producers and their products in Oxfam pilot areas, (with Homenet SEA mother website at www.homenetseasia.org.) Eppie said that a foreign buyer has already expressed interest to place orders for Philippine-made fashion accessories.

   PATAMABA also embarked on an innovative, interactive and participatory approach known as participatory video method. “Life Stories of the Informal Sector” (“Kwentong Buhay ng Manggagawang Impormal”) is a participatory video documentary made by PATAMABA members and fieldwork students to share the story behind the products of PATAMABA members. With a gender and development perspective, the film highlights their unique struggles, successes and continuing challenges in trying to build a fair, just and sustainable economy.

   Another opportunity to utilize the PV method is through on-going PV project, entitled “Fashioning Fair Trade” (“Disenyo at Sariling Likha”), a joint production of Homenet SEA and PATAMABA. Here, the PV output serves as a critical component of entire production process. Focus will be on the women homeworkers in the Oxfam pilot areas who are now engaged in group enterprise as producers of various crafts, collectively known as homeworkers’ products. It will be a vehicle to convey women homeworkers’ advocacy towards fair trade and social marketing. More importantly, the PV output must capture the stories of women homeworkers in the informal sector, and project how unfair trade brought about by globalization and unbridled globalization, etc. has had its affects on them. In effect, the PV and the live fashion show will be brought together/welded in one performance.

   In both PV projects mentioned above, the output of the PV process serves as a marketing tool to advance and sustain the financial needs of members, and as an academic reference base for theory-building, teaching, program development and advocacy.

   The PV method emphasizes the participation of PATAMABA members from pre-production to post production phases (as camera persons, scriptwriters, narrators and video editors). The output (video documentary), which utilized a film medium, primarily serves the purpose as advocacy materials that can be shared with Homenet SEA leaders and members during subregional meetings or at international and local gatherings that will open opportunities for bringing attention to the situation of informal sector workers specially the homeworkers’ groups. Subsequently, knowledge and skills on video production will be shared and transferred to other Homenets. Over the long run, the process is deemed to be useful in community training programs and in documenting homeworkers and informal economy workers’ untold stories for sharing with other people’s organizations, government agencies, supportive advocates, the media, and to the general public.

   C. Continuing Engagement In Fair Trade And Other Issues

   PATAMABA has been an active participant in the Fair Trade Alliance (FTA), attending various meetings and workshops on problems of specific industries, e.g. mining, as well as in crafting a development agenda on employment and industry survival which takes into consideration the concerns of the informal sector.

   In June 2006, two members of the Executive Committee and two PATAMABA youth leaders attended the FTA Summer Institute on economic literacy, which ended with the formulation of an action program on “Tangkilikan”, which means, “Support Philippine-made Products”. As an off-shoot of this program, a meeting was held on July 25, 2006 centering on how FTA affiliates can support the marketing of each others’ products, starting with uniforms, rice and shoes. PATAMABA will be involved in the supply of uniforms to companies affiliated with FTA.

   Aside from FTA, PATAMABA joined a formation that critiques the engagement of the Philippines in globalized trade retailing that really affected small producers vis. a vis entry of very cheap foreign products from Korea, Taiwan and other neighboring countries. Moreover, the illegal/technical smuggling practice where the Philippines has been used as dumping ground for cheap garments or “ukay-ukay” and agricultural products has had negative impact on local producers from the informal sector.

   During the 6th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Hongkong in January 2005, Olive Parilla (PATAMABA National Council and Homenet SEA Regional Council) with Inday Ofreneo (Homenet SEA Regional Coordinator) and some FTA official representatives participated in the conference, where PATAMABA products were showcased and sold. Along with Homenet SEA delegates, PATAMABA was represented during the discussion on civil society’s position on the new round of WTO.

   Recently, (19-21 September 2006), PATAMABA National Council and Homenet SEA Council for IEC, Primar Jardeleza, was invited to the International Fair Trade Alliance (IFAT) conference held in Bangkok, Thailand, where she shared PATAMABA’s experiences in fair trade and social marketing. During the event, Prime also took the opportunity to distribute several copies of the Homenet SEA newsmagazine and the Social Protection book to selected participants.

   D. Campaigns for Changes at the Macro and Micro Levels

   In the light of ongoing efforts by social movements and civil society groups to recast international trade policies to defend the interests and promote the welfare of the most vulnerable and marginalized, organizations of homebased workers and other women workers in the informal economy now feel the need to focus on global advocacy for better terms of trade. Through PATAMABA, they have issued position papers and joined demonstrations on trade-related issues. They have been active in various forms of fair trade advocacy in collaboration with trade unions, business groups, and civil society organizations.

   Through this exposure and their own discussions, women informal worker leaders have evolved their own conception of fair trade – taking it to mean changes in macro-economic policies (including tariff reform, stopping smuggling and dumping of cheap foreign products) to give an even chance to local producers to have their rightful share of the domestic market; enhancing sustainability of production by making use of locally available resources, catering to basic community needs, and safeguarding the environment; ensuring workers’ rights to just remuneration, job security, social protection, and safe working conditions; and promoting gender equity through recognition of women’s work, gender equality in the division of labor; and stronger participation of women in decision-making.

   The negative effects of unfair trade through the influx of cheap and often smuggled garments and accessories continue to be felt by PATAMABA producers in the pilot areas: Bicol (where the demand for the traditional machine embroidery designs on bathrobes and pillow cases continues to be irregular); Pangasinan, (where producers of baskets and bamboocraft are in constant search of market for their crafts), Cordilleras (aside from the limited market, producers face various challenges inherent to indigenous people), and Pinangga (high cost of materials and tedious work in ethnic hand embroidery limits big volume production). Experiences show that each group had to devise ways of working around limitations. In terms of fully addressing organizational sustainability and extending assistance in product marketing, these were achieved at different levels among the groups.

   In the case of Pinangga, although Fe Paduyao (as proprietor) has been a local producer for almost twenty years now, the entry of Pinangga apparels in the Oxfam enterprise development grant formalizes her participation in group enterprise. This gives her group (as local producer) an even chance in the domestic market. The Oxfam project enabled her group to acquire additional capital fund for the purchase of raw materials, that also resulted to a 20% increase in the volume of production, with proportionate increase in opportunity to participate in bazaars. In fact, the added visibility of Pinangga led to an offer to display the apparel line in Kultura (a concessionaire specializing in native crafts). But the deal has not been finalized up to present time due to the group’s inability to meet the demand for big volume orders, aside from the tiring paper work needed to register the enterprise. Hand embroidery on Pinangga requires laborious and tedious work but increased orders would mean spreading out earnings to more number of women embroiderers.

   Limited market remains to be a common problem among the groups, specially now that their products, face stiff competition from the same type of imported products which are sold at cheaper prices. Neither can these women lower the price of their products due to the high cost of raw materials and transportation. On the other hand, the younger generation cannot be convinced to engage in these activities anymore because it is perceived to be laborious and confining (always done within the home), yet, yields very low income. Hence, those who formed the group enterprise are mostly the older or aged women, who have undergone training on product development and marketing under the Oxfam grant, but feel that they need to acquire other skills for alternative livelihood. Once in a while, foreign buyers who find the products attractive place their orders, but income derived from intermittent sales cannot even sustain homeworkers’ daily needs.

5. PURSUING ADVOCACY WORK AND MUTUAL SUPPORT MOVEMENT...WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

   Foreign competition brought about by cheap imports and second-hand clothing from neighboring countries continue to flood local outlets and streets, marginalizing many Filipino producers. Homeworkers in traditional embroidery and garment producing areas like Angono, Rizal, who used to derive their main income from subcontracted embroidery for export products, have since then engaged in group enterprises that produce soaps and detergents, bedroom slippers, Budbod Sustansiya and candle wax. The same trend may be seen in the indigenous weaving in the Cordilleras; abaca-based crafts, weaving and high quality machine embroidery in Bicol; and basket weaving and bamboocraft production in Pangasinan. The negative effects of unfair trade through the influx of cheap and often smuggled vegetable items and meats from abroad continue to be felt by PATAMABA members who are in food production and processing.

   The Oxfam Project, despite some problems, has undeniably been of assistance in easing the adverse effects of globalization and the attendant unbridled liberalization which has affected many PATAMABA members. Through this project, local chapter producers in eight pilot areas had been recipients as well as participants in market research study, product development, capacity-building on enterprise development, and lobbying, advocacy and networking capability development using a gender perspective.

   Similarly, the Oxfam Project created awareness among PATAMABA participants that the following concerns must be pursued further - upgrade and strengthen capabilities of the organization in assisting homeworkers at the local communities; enhance further the capacity of the productivity center; increase provision of production equipment facilities; and technical and financial support in setting up a permanent marketing shop for home workers’ products. To boost the marketing of products from the pilot sites, PATAMABA sees the potential and bright prospect of developing e-commerce through the website. Showcasing and selling homeworkers’ products though the website can reach more number of prospective clients.

   Infusing the tangkilikan concept in attaining mutual support among the group enterprises was well received in the PATAMABA communities. PATAMABA’s own scheme will push the local economy by addressing organizational sustainability as well as extending assistance to local producers in marketing their products. Social marketing is the key factor that will guide any group in its campaign towards patronizing local products done by an individual member or a group enterprise.

   Alongside is PATAMABA’s active participation in various forms of fair trade advocacy in collaboration with trade unions, business groups, and civil society organizations and campaigns for changes at the macro and micro levels of the economy.

   Meanwhile, women homeworkers and other workers in the informal economy continue to feel the pangs of import liberalization and dumping of foreign goods in the local market. That despite all the effort, still, they face difficulties trying to neutralize the negative effects on their livelihood and income. Very clearly, what they need is sustainable economic activities and a fair market for their products. This will enable them to sustain their needs for social security and protection towards living a decent life.