We thought (the government could) help the factories and assist them so that the cost will be lower.

The call for a total ban on single-use plastics, pursued in earnest by non-profits, is gaining momentum around the world.

Garments and textile industry players are asking the government to allocate a portion of its conditional cash transfer (CCT) budget to subsidize a part of the wages of their workers in a bid to reduce their costs and export selling price that will help them compete in the global market.

“This is like incentivization of employment, that’s what we call it. (Our) proposal is to provide and include in the government program cash incentives to cover hiring of garments and apparel workers for factories,” said Robert Young, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PHILEXPORT) trustee for textile, yarn and fabric sector.

Young said while the government provides conditional cash grants mostly for jobless people, the proposed subsidy may be given also to the employed, particularly in the garments and textile sector.

The Philippines, he added, can no longer compete with the international market in terms of price on basic items such as T-shirts, denim pants, sporting goods, and athletic wear.

“We used to be number one in these items, (but) not anymore because of our labor cost, power cost and the efficiency of the workers. All these factors and disturbances are factors lead to the non-acceptance of our prices because they are quite high compared to other countries such as Lao, Myanmar, Vietnam,” Young said.

“We thought (the government could) help the factories and assist them so that the cost will be lower,” he added.

Young, also president of Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines, believe such a subsidy can help reduce their export selling price for the Philippines to remain competitive with other countries.