Domestic manufacturers has urged for balance to protect employment and industries as logistics cost is now eating as much as 30 percent of total product value and the Middle East crisis continuing to squeeze margins and push firms into defensive operations.
Elizabeth H. Lee, chairperson of the Federation of Philippine Industries, said that manufacturers are “cutting back where possible, conserving what we can, and doing whatever it takes to continue to keep the lights on, while we weather this current storm.”
Lee cited the World Bank and OECD linked estimates that logistics cost now consume 25 to 30 percent of total product value. At the same time, fuel and power costs are driving input prices higher across food, plastics, fertilizers, and manufacturing broadly.
“Manufacturers are absorbing these pressures to the best of their ability—and with it, safeguarding jobs—even as demand softens precisely because of the same crisis weighing on businesses. But absorption has its limits, more so for MSMEs who may have a shorter runway to withstand prolonged shocks,” said Lee.
She added that both businesses and workers are bearing legitimate burdens under these extraordinary circumstances. With pressures on wages, she said that the Tripartite Wage Board is the venue to find that balance — where worker welfare and business sustainability are not treated as competing interests, but as two sides of the same imperative.
The Philippines has been particularly exposed to this global shock compared to many of our ASEAN neighbors, and we acknowledge and commend the government’s active efforts to help mitigate the rising cost of goods for both industry and consumers alike.
She urged for balance to hold the economy steady, protect employment, sustain business operations, and prevent any kind of economic instability that could only harm the workers and industry.
