If you’re on the lookout for gifts to family, friends, officemates, your kid’s teachers and his classmates, it would be a good idea to “buy gifts from small businesses, women and mother entrepreneurs, that neighbor who makes handmade sweets or the community artisan,” as the post that’s been going around Facebook urges.
Buying from these small entrepreneurs will certainly spread the goodwill and cheer since any purchase will help these people with struggling or startup businesses. Aside from the fact that shopping in malls and department stores can turn stressful (foot traffic and long queues), you’re better off buying Filipino-made products instead of those foreign brands because that small gesture on your part will go a long way in generating jobs.
When he was still a party list representative, Teddy Casiño delivered a privilege speech advocating the Buy Pinoy, Build Pinoy concept, urging people to buy Filipino products and services during Christmas to help small and medium enterprises and in so doing, protect and create jobs in the country. While his speech was delivered four years ago, the call is still very relevant and follows the “tangkilikin ang sariling atin” (patronize our own) lessons that have been ingrained in many of us since our elementary school days.
Instead of coffee from Brazil or Columbia, get those barako brews from Batangas; instead of imported shampoo, soap and other beauty products, go for that organic soap from Nueva Ecija or the Ilog Maria natural beauty and skincare products that contain refined beeswax or honey (soaps, lip balms, shampoos and the like).
A more popular Filipino brand would be Human Nature that offers all Philippine-made personal care products. The company is pro-Philippines, pro-poor and pro-environment—put up by Gawad Kalinga volunteers Camille Meloto, Anna Meloto-Wilk and Dylan Wilk who are passionate about developing environmentally safe products sourced from locally grown ingredients. The company partners with other social entrepreneurs, mostly from GK communities and villages to support the local residents and provide them with sustainable livelihood.
In Manila, just across UST and near the U-belt is a charming new store called Hello MNL that also carries only Filipino-made brands. Put up by young entrepreneur mom Des Ong, the idea for the store came about when she faced the challenge of marketing her own startup brand Dagatbeads. All available options were either too costly or too far from where she lives, so she scouted for a place in her community to introduce her brand to the market.
Since most shops/stores in her community were retail type or mostly carried clothes, she saw a perfect venue to showcase her Dagatbeads (bracelets and other accessories made from pebbles)—in the process also opening doors for fellow startups and “tiyangge-mates” (bazaar mates). To date, the store now carries over 80 Filipino brands ranging from functional pieces, handcrafts, food and beverage, bags, decorative items, witty stickers and a lot more—many of which stand out for their uniqueness, artistry and novelty.
Since the store is just across UST and the U-belt, the core target would be students, although it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say the market cuts across a wider segment. Among the most noticeable are beer and wine bottles that have been turned into drinking glasses (or lamps and other products) from Cristal Glass Project, the Niño brand whose cool “convertible” bag (it can function as a shoulder bag or backpack) will soon be the rage; and the Diyalogo line of stickers (a Pack Set can send you into stitches), among many others. Check out Hello MNL on Facebook; @hellomanila store on Instagram or visit the store at 864-A Moret St, Manila.
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