Philippine Fair Trade Forum grows in strength to determine it's
own future
(October 2002)
Representatives of twenty one (21) fair trade organizations held a successful and fruitful two-day meeting of the Philippine Fair Trade Forum (PFTF) at the INNOTECH Campus in Diliman, Quezon City last July 23-24, 2002.
This was an impressive get together by all the groups and parties committed to Fair Trade and agreeing to charter a strong approach to defining Fair Trade for producers. All decisions and polices are to be made and implemented in the best interests of the workers and producers.
Mr. Hermoso of PREDA has been involved in Philippine Fair Trade since 1974 and the organization. He is a co-founder and he has a far seeing agenda in making the Philippine Fair Trade forum a strong organization to champion the best interests of producers.
Participants included community producer groups, fair trade exporting organizations, and support NGOs. Important decisions were made concerning the identity, direction and organizational structure of the Forum. Members and officials of the PFTF Board of Trustees were elected. Likewise, plans in the areas of market access, consumer awareness and policy advocacy were identified.
The meeting was organized and jointly hosted by the Advocate of Philippine Fair Trade, Inc. (APFTI) and OXFAM-GB. Other IFAT members from the Philippines played active and key roles during the meeting. The convener of the Asia Fair Trade Forum, Ms. Claribel David, gave a briefing on developments within the Asia Forum as well as the agenda of the forthcoming IFAT Asia Regional Conference that will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia on the second week of September 2002.
Mission Statement of the Forum.
At the meeting, the fair trade coalition adopted its Mission Statement as follows:
"The PFTF shall serve as a common vehicle of the member-organizations for increasing market access, both local and international; raising consumer awareness about fair trade; sharing experiences and taking common action; establishing a center of information about members' products and services; and lobbying and campaigning for changes in policies that will rebound to the benefit of members and other disadvantaged producers." Elected as founding officers and members of the Board of Trustees of PFTF were the following: Chairperson - Alex Corpus Hermoso (PREDA Fair Trade); Vice-Chairperson Danilo Ocampo (APFTI); Secretary - Chona Ramos (OXFAM-GB); Treasurer - Josie Soriano (SAFRUDI); and the following as members - Betty More (KATAKUS), Ruth Fe Salditos (Panay Fair Trade Center), Sarah Ernacio (Barcelona Multi Purpose Cooperative, Inc.), Liza Ty (Dairy Development Foundation of the Philippines, Inc.), and Benedict Balderama (SIKAT).The group also lined-up a number of specific plans along the areas of market access, consumer awareness, and policy advocacy. Ms. Betty More of KATAKUS was elected as the official representative of the PFTF in the Jakarta IFAT Asia Conference. The group also accepted the offer of APFTI to continue hosting the Secretariat of the PFTF until such time that a permanent office is established in the future. For inquiries about the PFTF, its members, and its activities you may contact the PFTF Secretariat c/o Danny Ocampo at e-mail address docampo@apfti.org.ph.
