Philippine Chinese General Chamber of Commerce

Title

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XXIV (No. 1) January 1948

Year

1948

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Commenting on the limitations of our shipments to the United States of hemp and copra, Representative Crawford suggested that “perhaps the United States has been too negligent in making war-damage payments to the Islands.” He emphasized that the Filipinos are not begging, and stated that the United States has "a specific obligation” to the Philippines entirely dissociated from the over-all Far Eastern problem, adding that "we had a moral obligation to the Philippines far before we had any thing to do with China and Japan.” George C. Dankwerth, former old-timer here, and now an investment-broker in San Francisco, who recently returned from a three-months business trip to the Philip pines, spoke of his disappointment with the delay in the rehabilitation of Manila and the Philippines. "It seems to me”, he said, "that we are treating our former enemies, the Japanese, better than we are treating the Filipinos.” Criticising the $500 limitation on individual war-damage payments, he said, "that little amount won’t bring adequate employment and won’t even start to rebuild industry.” It is comforting to know that we, the Filipinos, have good friends in the United States such as Representative Crawford and Mr. Dankwerth, and this Department re cords their heart-warming views on the Philippines and its problems with extreme satisfaction. On November 22, 1946, President Puyat was received by Chairman Commissioner Waring and Commissioner Delgado of the War Damage Commission at its Office, then located in the Aguinaldo Building, in the presence of other key-men of the Commission. One of the points made by Mr. Puyat was that the basis for payment of damages should be in proportion to the amount submitted as damages incurred. If the purpose is to rehabilitate the economic life of the country, claims filed for damages should be clas sified, and the money available for payment should be dis tributed proportionately among the different groups. Chairman Waring expressed himself as fully in favor of the proposal, but he, as well as Commissioner Delgado and members of his staff, were one in the opinion that the law does not permit the adoption of this suggestion of Mr. Puyat. However he said that if Congress decided later on to increase the amount of money for payment of war damages,thatwould open an avenue. Commissioner Delgado stated that the members of the Commission had already discussed this plan among themselves, but had been unable to find a way. He said that it might be possible to amend the law after the Commission had ascertained the facts and placed them before Congress. After more than a year of operation, the members of the Commission know the facts, and it is hoped that they will press for an increased appropriation to assure that war-damage payments will actually help in the re construction and economic rehabilitation of the war-torn Philippines. Pedro J. Ocampo, Secretary. Philippine Chinese General Chamber of Commerce IN retrospect, the Chinese businessman may look back on the year 1947 glad not only because he has sur vived it, but also because he has shared with his fellow businessman, be he Filipino, American, Indian, or any other, the benefits as well as the reverses brought about by the prosperity and the depressions which charac terized the past twelve months. For although business was not actually at its best at one time or at its worst at another, the ups and the downs were noticeable enough to be graphically presented. Yet no serious consequences followed the "poor” business during some months of 1947. Judged from the analysis made of the businesses in which most members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce have been engaged, the trends may be reviewed in accordance with the different items of business they handled, to wit: Textiles: From January to March, the business was generally fair. A big slump occurred in April and May, particularly during the latter, and most importers lost money. In June and July, the textile business picked up a bit; in August, September and October, the market greatly improved. As generally in the past, the months of No vember and December were quite all right. All in all, the volume of the 1947 textile trade was six to seven times that of any pre-war year. Hardware: Contrary to general belief, the hardware business was not the best business, although a few items, especially galvanized iron, gave considerable profit. The first half of the year was very good, but the market weak ened due to shortage of supply. The United States was the only source of galvanized-iron sheets, although stocks came later from Belgium. Groceries and Canned Goods: Business was at its worst from January to April, due to oversupply of imports and the Army surplus. During the following two months, these commodities began to pick up until at the end of the year they were in brisk trading. Philippine consumption was about thrice that of any pre-war year. Tobacco and Cigarettes: The first half of the year business was good, but the second half was not profitable to dealers and operators. Expenses were just recovered as manufacturers broke even. Locally manufactured cigarettes found no market, while the business in imported cigarettes ran to about twenty times the pre-war volume. Importers of American cigarettes had fairly good business throughout the year. Lumber: During the early part of the year, business was good, due to active reconstruction. When the Gov ernment assumed control of prices during July, August, and September, there was a slump, and the retailers (not the concessionaires) had only a very small margin of profit. Although trade was active, the lumber dealers made no profit in December. Glassware and Chinaware: Good during the early part of year, but from May to October, the business was very slow. Recovery was made in November and De cember as the volume of buying increased with the approach of the holidays. The volume of trade was five times that of any pre-war year. Bakeries: Good from January to middle of the year. The increase in prices of flour from Canada and the United States beginning in June, and the government specifica tions on the weight of bread made bakeries struggle to merely remain in business. Brisk trading before the holiday season relieved the bakeries a bit. ’ Restaurants: Business during the first half of the year was fair, but during the last six months it was so bad some of them went out of business. Chucherias: From January to the middle of the year, business was rather stable and then gradually increased until it reached its peak in November and December. Yang Sepeng, Executive Secretary. Spanish Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines AMONG our activities during November and De cember, there was, in the first place, the definitive reorganization of our Camara under the laws of the Philippines. A legislative mandate after the war required this, and on November 28 our Corporation was newly registered under the name of “Camara Oficial Espanola de Comercio de Filipinas.” Our Chamber was maintained during the war under great difficulties, but also with great integrity on the part of those who were acting during those painful times. 22

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