FILIPINO ENTREPRENEURS should join industry groups so they can be part of a strong lobby and get involved in crafting state policies aside from find business solutions, according to a local restaurant association.

“Being a part of a business organization like ours helps you represent your business when it comes to policy making,” Maria Cristina H. Antonio, executive secretary of the San Juan Resort Restaurant Hotel Association, Inc., said in an interview.

“It’s also a mediation if certain policies are inapplicable to your situation. We have had to negotiate, renegotiate, or plan out the working process for something as basic as solid waste management,” she added.

The waste management guidelines issued by the Environment department are “up for translation by your local government unit,” said Ms. Antonio, who owns Urbiz Garden Bed & Breakfast in La Union province in northern Philippines. “How the local government translates it is through grassroots consultancy… and that’s where business organizations like ours come in.”

The restaurant association was founded in 2004 to foster a business climate that encourages investment, stimulates tourism and promotes sustainable development. From just 11 members, the group has grown to more than 90 establishments, most of which are microenterprises with not more than three employees.

The association had lobbied for several local laws and campaigns including one against a coal-fired power plant from 2018 to 2021, and another advocating an environmental fee in San Juan last year.

It is also lobbying for a free market in power distribution and water supply since the province only has one supplier for each.

The group likewise functions as a collective, Ms. Antonio told BusinessWorld.

“We push for each other’s events, especially if it’s on sustainability,” she said. They also direct excess customers to each other when one is fully booked.

Members also get opportunities for free training such as on pollution control and safety.

“Some of them are paid, some of them are funded by the government as part of a certain project, but when it is paid, it’s usually at a lower price,” Ms. Antonio said.

She said the initial purpose of the association was to put San Juan on the tourism map.

Now that establishments have come in to provide tourists with different experiences, the question for each one becomes “How do we keep surviving as a business?,” she added. — Patricia B. Mirasol

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