DAVAO CITY (November 3) – President Rodrigo Duterte is bent on reviving the barter trade in Mindanao with neighbors in the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area.
“Barter is an ancient commercial practice among our people in the southern Philippines, which continues to thrive and evolve as a living tradition until the present day,” Duterte stated in Executive Order No. 64, signed on October 29, 2018.
The EO 64 also created the Mindanao Barter Council (MBC) to oversee the barter trade and its three barter ports in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi which will regulate the registration and accreditation of qualified traders.
The MBC will be chaired by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and can recommend the creation of other barter ports in other areas for the President’s approval.
It was tasked in “establishing an enabling environment conducive to the growth and development of barter in Mindanao.”
In the midst of the problem of rice supply, the President has directed Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez to implement the barter trade system in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi (Zambasulta) areas, where goods from Sabah, Malaysia are usually traded.
Reviving the barter trade is expected to stabilize wholesale rice prices in the country to about P37 to P39 per kilo. –Jiann Padillo/ NewsLine
