KEYNOTE SPEECH OF SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA OPENING OF THE NATIONAL ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR (NACF) 2025 October 24, 2025 | Megatrade Halls, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City

Thank you very much, Ms. Gretchen Ho.

Bumabati po ako sa inyong lahat ngayong hapong ito. First of all, our friends, distinguished members of the Diplomatic Corps, thank you for taking time out this afternoon to join us.

Tell your other colleagues, it’s not just today, it’s opened yesterday until the 29th and we have plans of having a permanent, not just showroom, but a permanent store in the different regions of the country, so that all our MSMEs will have their platforms 365 days in a year.

I would like to thank, and I give my full support to a former MSME entrepreneur who knows how it is to strive and to thrive, our hardworking, dedicated Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, Secretary Cristina Roque.

I am grateful for the presence of a dear friend and colleague, also in government, whose budget I always support because it is the lifeblood of the Philippine economy and he represents labor and employment, Secretary Laguesma, Salamat po.

And another dedicated and brilliant member of the cabinet, a friend as well, magkasama lang kami kahapon, and I laud you for what you did, which is what we’ve been advocating for so long that the cultural masters or the Manlilikha ng Bayan are now able to train, and those who are trained will be accredited, Secretary Kiko Benitez.

And of course, we’re here in SM. And iba talaga ang traffic ng tao, ‘yung dami ng punta dito, at isang matalik kong kaibigan, ayaw mag-retire, trabaho nang trabaho, maski may sakit, nandito siya. Yes, and of course, Tessie Coson, thank you so much for being here.

Our friends in government, hindi ko na iisa-isahin. You know how much I support you. You know how much I labor for you. And all are more than 300 micro, small, and medium enterprises.

Let me just tell you this. When you visit each and every booth, they represent the hands that toil. They represent the brains and the creativity that imagine. They represent the soul of the community, where it was founded, where it thrives. They represent the people who are paid daily wages. They represent the dreams and aspirations of the little barangay up in the highlands in the Cordillera, or a little town in the waters of Tawi Tawi, or a nature village in my province of Antique. Each and every micro enterprise present here today have been supported by government.

When we read all the negativity and all the bad news, but here, in this National Arts and Crafts Fair today, it is all good news. You feel the energy. You feel the soul of the Filipino and you will see how wealthy the Filipino nation truly is. You see their talent. You see their brilliance. You see their grit. You see their resilience. That is why, as the principal author of the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and as the author of many other laws like the OTOP law, I could not see just my legislation become ink on paper or even just discussed online. I had to make sure that they are actually help, by giving them financial support, by giving them tools and equipment, by giving them marketing support, by giving them training even in accountancy and financial literacy. Even by bringing them abroad, including the Ambiente Fair and some fairs in different parts of the world.

What I am saying is, sa bawat isang booth, makikita niyo, I’ll say it in English, it is not just, okay, we selected them, it’s an exhibit, it’s a souvenir, we buy, it’s beautiful, we take it home. No. They were helped by DOLE, Department of Labor and Employment, through its programs like DOLE Kabuhayan, where that program helps community-based, community-managed, community enterprises in the far-flung areas, that’s why I support their budget. They were probably also trained in a technical vocational institute accredited by TESDA, so that they are able to know the arts and the crafts and how to do all of this. They were probably even helped and supported to improve their design by the Design Center of the Philippines. Rhea Matute is here, and she knows how I’ve asked her to connect with the local communities, so that the designs are further improved, and the most important, perhaps, we see government collaboration.

We are honored to be in the presence of our Manlilika ng Bayan awardees. What does it mean? These are our National Living Treasures. Sila po ang ating tinatanghal, na nagpapakita ng yaman ng Pilipino. They are the wealth of the Filipino nation. Rosie Sula just came from the Frankfurt Book Fair, where she opened it with a beautiful chant. Salamat po, Ma’am Rosie, sa inyong pagtanghal, pagpunta sa Frankfurter Buchmesse at nandito na naman tayo sa National Arts and Crafts Fair. Lahat po ng mga magagaling at mga ginagalang po natin na GAMABA, salamat po sa inyong pagpunta po dito.

When you visit the booths, please look for the GAMABA booths. Thank you so much, National Arts and Crafts Fair and the NCCA because the collaborative effort of the DTI and the NCCA, there is a program in the NCCA that gives continuous support for the GAMABA awardees who have passed on so that the people they mentor are given the support, as well. There’s another program, which I’ve been supporting for a long, long time, and those in NCCA will say that ‘naku ma’am, kung hindi po niyo binigyan ng pondo at talagang kinakarir ang pagtulong, namatay na po ang tradisyon.’ I’ll say it in English. If we do not document, preserve, give financial assistance and training to the Schools of Living Tradition, it would have died. We have over 400 SLTs. Many are endangered, many are dead, but many are thriving because of the NCCA’s support for SLTs. And soon, this will be legislated, so that there will be institutionalized support. So aside from the GAMABA, aside from the SLPs of the NCCA, we have each and every micro enterprise who have probably been benefited from the DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program, who have probably also been benefited by the DOST’s Community Empowerment for Science and Technology, who have been benefited by the shared services facilities of the Department of Trade and Industry, who have benefited all these years with free booths.

Government, of course, does not get any single centavo from their purchases, so no commissions. We also provide their airfare, their hotel, their food and their land transport, that is why the cost of everything you buy here is probably one tenth the price what you see outside for this one week, so I encourage you to buy. And all of those in the booths, pag sinabi nang ubos, out of stock, huwag kayong papayag. Hanggang 29 kayo, magpadala mula sa probinsya. So, it was Secretary Roque who mentioned that something you can buy here for 2,000, it’s probably 20,000 outside. So, please buy your Christmas gifts, buy your birthday gifts, i-wipe out ninyo. And I have to appeal, huwag po tayong tumawad.

Kasi po, oo, when I say huwag tumawad, let’s not ask for a discount. Let’s not ask for a discount with the hands that toil, with the brilliance and talent of the Filipino. Because I assure you, they are not overpriced like what’s happening now in some government investigations.

These MSMEs, the materials, in fact, when I go to them in the barangay, I say, why is it so cheap? I will teach you financial literacy so you can increase. And I can vouch from head to foot, whatever I wear, love local, support local, and my life has been dedicated since my teenage years, which was a long, long time ago, I go to the barangay, I go to the bundoks, I go to small areas where there’s no livelihood. People have no jobs. But when you give them some capital, no matter how small, when you see that there is coconut husks and you say this is not waste, you can make some cups then he says, ‘yes, ma’am, I have a design. All I need are tools.’ How much will it cost? Maybe three, five thousand then you give them the tools and then suddenly you see he has a small business and I buy everything then he says, ‘wow they have food on their table, then they have a little business now, then we bring them here and then eventually you see them in all the other pops-up and bazaars, it just makes me so happy. And for the past 30 to 40 years, I’ve been doing this. But I’m not content with just writing laws or even just funding the laws. It is important we give them the physical platform so that they can show you the output of their hard work, their perseverance, and their ingenuity and talent.

So, on this occasion, I am grateful to everyone who have made this possible. My laws and my vision of more than ten years ago would not be possible without the full, wholehearted cooperation of all the agencies of government. Ayan, nandiyan ang UNACOM, si Ivan, nandiyan si Julius, PRTI, alam nila, they know how unrelenting I can be, they know how kulit I can be, hindi naman siguro masungit, pero they know how I’m like a Rottweiler, like I won’t give up until it’s done. And I don’t do it for myself. And we see all the stories, talk to them. Talk to them and ask them what kind of help they’ve received. Ask them what else can we do to help them, so that let a thousand more flowers bloom.

Maraming salamat po sa inyong pakikinig. Maraming salamat sa aking mga high school classmates na nandiyan na mag-shopping nang marami. Huwag imported, buy local, support local, love local. At importante, diretso po, dito po hindi kami naglalagay ng may traders, bagamat hindi masama ang traders. These are community-based, community-managed, community-driven. Many of them are from indigenous peoples’ communities, rural artisans, and those who really need help in our provinces.

Isang pagbibigay-pugay ng muli sa ating mga Manlilika ng Bayan awardees. Ang inyong talento po ang nagbibigay ng lakas ng loob namin para patuloy tumulong sa inyong lahat.

Thank you very much. Magandang hapon po. Damo gid nga salamat. Duro gid nga salamat. Maraming salamat po. ###