• THERESA MAE DULMAN
Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) President Atty. Juliana Carbon emphasized the need to protect businesses, identifying them as the primary economic drivers of the region.
She issued the statement during the 35th Visayas Area Business Conference on May 13-15, which drew approximately 220 delegates and guests.
“We welcome all new businesses, and we would like to thank all existing businesses because the existing businesses, especially those in crops, in the coconut, those in the BPO industries—those are our economic drivers. They contribute to employment, so we also have to protect them. If they have concerns, we will find ways to raise it to the national level,” she said.
She said that the conference, which also discussed the removal of excise taxes on basic utilities like electricity and water, was structured to be more interactive in accordance with directives from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).
Carbon explained that it enables regional chambers to raise concerns, suggest solutions, and draft resolutions.
The recommended resolutions will be reviewed by the PCCI national office and subsequently submitted to the Office of the President of the Philippines.
Carbon also noted that the conference serves to support the ‘One Visayas’ movement of local business chambers and government agencies.
Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros served as a guest speaker and Ambassador Jing Quan of the People’s Republic of China was the plenary speaker.
“Over these past years, the Visayas have shown a capacity to coordinate, to integrate, to reach across distances without surrendering to division. Through the leadership emerging across regions, provinces, cities and chambers of commerce, we are seeing a region learning how to move as interconnected centers of strength,” Hontiveros said.*
