04 August 2005

Made in the Global Village

International trade and commerce has truly affected the way we do business. Oftentimes, the cost of manufacturing goods always dictate where these are made, even if it means outside your own shores.

A friend once told me an interesting story that manifests this. He knows someone who went to New York on business. There's usually an extra day or two reserved for leisure, and this guy went shopping for sporting goods. Among his purchases was a pair of rubber shoes (whose popular brand name I will no longer mention) which he really liked.

So he went back to the Manila and gave pasalubong to his friends and relatives and he proudly showed-off his new pair of rubber shoes. And then he looked at the tag to check where it was made.

It's Made in the Philippines.

11 comments:

  1. oh truly? us filipinos can be super conyos na!!!! kasi we make gawa products that are being benta in the New Yorks!

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  2. Yes truly. Mega gawa tayo ng shoes at make import-export. And then we buy back the shoes we made at 3x the presyo, nalagyan lang ng magandang tatak :-) Designer labels!

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  3. a relative of mine went to singapore and bought a pair of children's shoes. the thing is she knew they were made in the Philippines (she actually bought a similar pair here). she bought them anyway. go figure that one out. it's one thing to buy something made in the Philippines abroad when it's not for sale locally and another when you can easily buy it at any store.

    (wishing I can make untog together the ulo of chu and watson for speaking like superconyos)

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  4. oh isn't everything being sold in the US made by filipinos? (he he he joke lang).

    but i know for a fact that there are a lot of products in the US and other countries that are being made by filipinos but of course they're just being commissioned by some big companies.

    i'm baaaaccck! :)

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  5. My parents, my wife's in-laws, just gave her a backpack (the kind for weeklong expeditions) as a gift for passing step one of her US Medical License Exam. To our surprise and amusement, when she checked to see where it was made the tag read, "Made In the Philippines."

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  6. Anonymous5:49 am

    the same story with my dad, he went to new york last time and bought a backpack. and when he checked the tag it was made in the philippines.

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  7. Anonymous6:34 am

    ...most of the toys ,x'mas decors, plastic wares, etc. here in alemanya are made in china, dissapointed tuloy iyong pinasalubungan ko. ang mercedes benz nga hindi na rin purong made in germany...

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  8. Anonymous10:35 am

    the reason why US uses other country to make their stuff is that labor is cheap in these countries. ewan ko ba kung bakit fascinated tayong mga pinoys if it says made in usa, must be our colonial mentality. pero here, kahit its made outside the us, these products have passed quality control.

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  9. Hello cherry. Maybe she liked the shoes so much she can't bear to buy again, regardless of where she's buying it? But she must have paid a premium for it. So money is not an issue? Hmmm... may I ask for a loan from your relative?

    Hi Amie! And welcome!

    Hello Mr. Abbey. I can see their faces. First, confusion, then laughter. Oh wow congratulations to your wife!

    Wierd ano, aki? The first thing that would come into your mind is that he could have bought it cheaper here! Or maybe not?

    Hello anonymous! Yep, sasabihin mo, pasalubong mo from germany pero made in china pala so parang you feel cheated :-)

    Ah yes. colonial mentality. Which is really a wake up call on today's world kasi galing US does not necessarily mean gawa sa US.

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  10. watson, nangyari din sa akin itu. i was in GAP and was about to try on a shirt kaya lang nung nakita ko made sa atin, i put it back. kasi maraming overruns nun sa tiangge twing christmas na tig-100 lang! helur? it was priced at US$14.99. DEYNA!

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  11. here my take... the reason is that many foreign companies outsource their labor requirement to asian countries because of cheap labor costs. and problema is that, these products kahit na bilhin mo dito sa pinas is you still pay for kung ano talaga ang market price nya. one example is the Reebok shoes, it being made here in the philippines but kahit bilhin mo sya sa local department store you still pay for its market price. ang problema kasi dapat ang original locally made products should be at par with global standards para maging competitive, imagine this di ba nakakatuwa kung yung Kaypee shoes is competing side by side with Nike, or yung Advan shoes is as popular as Vans, Company B against Levi's... or Bench head to head with Mark's & Spencer...

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