Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda lauded recent moves to reinforce rules and regulations safeguarding geographical indications (GIs) in the country, potentially giving Filipino-made products a significant advantage toward economic and social development through responsible use of the intellectual property system.
“These new regulations issued by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) are, therefore, a welcome development,” she shared.
The senator acknowledged, “While it cannot be expected to resolve past controversies or halt attempts at cultural appropriation, it is a very good step toward this end.”
She pointed out that as defined by the IPO, “geographical indications are any indication that identifies a good as originating in a territory, region, or locality, where a given quality, reputation, or other characteristics of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and/or human factors.”
The lawmaker listed the identified potential GIs in the country include the Cordillera heirloom rice, Guimaras mangoes, Benguet cacao, Batangas kapeng barako, Davao pomelo, and the Bagtason loom weave of Legarda’s home province of Antique, among other local products.
An advocate and staunch supporter of Philippine products herself, she the back-end and front-end implications of GIs that go beyond marketing. “An indication of origin does a great deal more than increase market awareness and ensure sales,” the senator said.
“People developing GIs are demonstrating nature-based solutions, and we must pay attention as they do,” she suggested, adding that “when people enhance their local products, like native plants and animals grown there, they enhance the capacity of their communities to address problems within their specific context.”
Legarda, a four-term senator, also emphasized “the importance of ensuring the integration of efforts with those of the government and other communities that will inspire further developments and an upswing of collective pride that benefits traditional and indigenous Filipino products.”
The veteran lawmaker recalled that back in 2019, she authored and pressed for the enactment into law of the Innovation Act, requiring government to put innovation at the center of its development policies considering regional and global economic opportunities.
“Opportunity is a great motivator. And I have no doubt that taken together, along with the ingenuity of the Filipino, will usher in a new era of production that takes into consideration our awesome natural gifts and biodiversity,” she added.
