Fair Trade Groups to Push for Social Enterprise Bill

“We celebrate to pursue a more just, fair trade system,” Geraldine Labradores of the Southern Partners and Fair Trade Center Inc. said during Saturday’s press briefing for World Fair Trade Day.

During the briefing, fair trade groups called on the local government to start embedding social entrepreneurship and fair trade by adopting the Social Enterprise Bill. “This bill will push for the dreams and aspirations we have been aspiring,” Labradores continued. Jay Lacsamana, Executive Director of the Foundation for Sustainable Society explained in a press statement that social entrepreneurship can empower communities and reduce poverty.

According to Lacsamana, fair trade ensures healthy environments for sustainable development. It scales up communities to a level where they are capable of creating and sustaining their own economic initiatives.

To continuously promote fair trade and the campaign for the bill, they will be holding two events namely the Tianggehan sa Fair Trade and Social Enterprise on May 11 at the Fair Trade Shop Cebu and the Solidarity Dinner on May 25 at the Lakwatsa Resto Lounge.

The events aim to encourage the public in supporting and buying goods from fair trade producers and social enterprises. They also hope to gather a million signatures in order to have an ordinance for Cebu to adopt the bill.

There are around 30, 000 social enterprises in the country doing cooperatives and associations by corporations and non-government institutions.