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Saturday, August 20, 2022 Vol. 17 No. 316
P25.00 nationwide | 16 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress are revisiting the decades-old law banning commercial importation of ukay-ukay, an P18-billion industry that, while enriching smugglers, has provided jobs for many and clothed millions of ordinary people, including migrant workers, the past decades.
PEOPLE shop at an ukay-ukay store at Bambang Market in Manila. ROY DOMINGO
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz & Butch Fernandez
S
AYING the used-clothing industry is a multibillion-peso industry that has benefited both the economy and ordinary people, the House Committee on Ways and Means chairman started this week the process for repealing a decadesold law prohibiting imports of such items. “Ukay-ukay has been legal in all but the law itself,” according to Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda. At about the same time, in a separate development, senators also began tackling the issue, with Sen. Raffy Tulfo noting how the poor have relied on it even as he chided regulators who turn a blind eye to smugglers. The small vendors and ordinary people should not be punished while the law prohibiting ukay-ukay stands; it’s the smugglers who should be prosecuted, added Tulfo, whose reputation as “idol” or action man to the masses with his long-running radio and TV program catapulted him to No. 2 in the last senatorial race. Tulfo pointed out how certain big businessmen make a killing smuggling used clothes which are then sold in the market. Small sellers with their tiny rented stalls are
SALCEDA: “Law enforcement does not raid ukay-ukay stores. Ukay has always been available as an option. For humanitarian reasons, we import ukayukay. Even apprehended ukay imports are eventually donated to disaster victims. And no one thinks it’s a bad idea to do these things. Ukay-ukay has been legal in all but the law itself.”
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.8560
obliged to pay taxes while importers are not paying their duties to the Bureau of Customs. Senate Ways and Means Committee chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian formally sought the Bureau of Customs’ comments on what should be revisited with Republic Act 4653 during a hearing that he led. At the House, Salceda said he will move to repeal Republic Act 4653, or the law which prohibits the importation of used clothing or ukay-ukay, estimated to be an P18billion industry. “We will take it up and move to repeal the bill, subject to standards prescribed by the Department of Health,” Salceda said, who added that he will file a bill on the matter. “It’s time for the law to recognize what is real and legal to the ordinary Filipino anyway,” Salceda added. The economist-lawmaker even noted that the country has tariff lines for ukay-ukay, at “15-20 percent for used clothing from countries we do not have trade agreements with, and 0 percent for Asean countries.” Major sources, he added, “will include the United States and Europe, which we do not have freetrade agreements with, and Japan, with which we do.” Salceda observed that, “Law enforcement does not raid ukayukay stores. Ukay has always been available as an option. For humanitarian reasons, we import ukay-ukay. Even apprehended ukay
imports are eventually donated to disaster victims. And no one thinks it’s a bad idea to do these things. Ukay-ukay has been legal in all but the law itself,” he added.
Global trend, practice
THE House leader also pointed to, a locator in Clark that “even imports used clothing that they sort. They reexport the usable clothes and use the rest as rags. There is a $28-billion market for used clothing. In fact, supermarkets there already sell used branded clothing. These fashion stores already accept used clothing.” Salceda cited supermarkets such as Walmart that already sell “excellent used clothing” of top brands. Salceda also cited fast fashion brands that solicit used clothing from their customers, either for recycling as rags or reuse. Migrant workers and Filipino travelers interviewed by the BusinessMirror have referred to ukay-ukay as a “life saver” of sorts, allowing them to buy urgently needed attire at affordable prices, for travel where their usual clothing here might not be suited, especially for OFWs traveling to countries during winter. Ana Leah Domingo (not her real name) in recent years had patronized a couple of ukay-ukay stores near her house in Manila. “One time, my husband urgently needed a black coat for a wedding, and we found one with a
U2 brand, for which he shelled out P175. He’s still using it for special occasions,” she said. Her cousin Gigi Casabuena recalled how the sales girls at the newly opened ukay-ukay at the ground floor of their apartment building in Makati would even “curate” for her and her three sisters items that they thought would fit their customers. “One time, I had to travel to Japan during winter, and I told them I was pressed for time and
money. The next day, they called me and laid out a set of nice clothes that I could use for different occasions—casual and formal—in winter. So I traveled with nice, quality clothes at rock-bottom price.” Migrant workers also share experiences about patronizing used-clothing stores in their host countries. Recently, one veteran journalist recalled buying a nice trench coat—for $10—at one such store in Boston. Continued on A2
n JAPAN 0.4111 n UK 66.6474 n HK 7.1211 n CHINA 8.2299 n SINGAPORE 40.3089 n AUSTRALIA 38.6133 n EU 56.3587 n KOREA 0.0421 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.8731
Source: BSP (August 19, 2022)