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By Bernice Camille V. Bauzon Researcher
In this age of advanced
technology and nonstop modernization, it may come as a surprise that
a local company is a supplier of the world’s most powerful armed
forces.
Maxistar Enterprises Inc., which
started as a subcontractor for the manufacture of M-16 rifles and
aluminum magazines for Elitool—the biggest producer of army
equipment during the time of former President Ferdinand Marcos—is
now the sole supplier of M-16 steel and aluminum magazines for the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the militaries of the
United States, Canada, Germany, South Africa and France.
“When it [Elitool] closed, the
AFP gave us the contract [to manufacture M-16 aluminum magazines]
using the materials from Elitool . . . We were assisted by the
research and development of AFP in making these products,”
Maxistar President Jeanette Tolentino told The Manila Times.
Maxistar was part of an umbrella
program in 1973 under the Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) of
Presidential Decree 415 under then-President Marcos. SRDP aimed to
support the local manufacturing of military equipment for the
development of the country’s defense system.
A former executive for a
Malaysian firm that created mortar fumes, Tolentino had been joining
international defense shows since 1988. When she became Maxistar’s
president, she brought the company to the international scene with
help from the Center for International Trade Expositions and
Missions or CITEM. With government support, Maxistar managed to make
inroads and draw admiration for its products.
Since Maxistar began attending
defense shows—Defendory in Greece and International Defense
Exhibition and Seminar in Turkey—it started to earn raves for its
standard M-16 aluminum magazines.
Its transition, however, from
local supplying to international delivery did not come easy. “When
we sell our products, we have to first sell our country,” said
Tolentino, adding that other countries would have not believed in
the quality of their products if it wasn’t for the support of the
Philippine military.
But with QCD or quality, cost and
delivery as its core values, the company was able to impress the AFP,
the Philippine National Police, Philippine Air Force and the
international defense departments of numerous countries with its
high-quality products, low cost and ability to meet the set delivery
schedule.
“We are duly licensed and under
the direct supervision of the military,” Tolentino said. “Our
products not only have to go through our own quality measures but
also have to undergo military tests and evaluation upon delivery.”
While the cost of these defense
equipment has skyrocketed by a staggering 180 percent since Maxistar
began manufacturing, demand for its products locally and
internationally has become consistent. Though locally made, the raw
materials used in the aluminum magazines are all imported. Tolentino
argued that the rising cost of aluminum and steel in the world
market made it impossible for Maxistar not to raise the cost of its
products.
Still, this did not discourage
the local Armed Forces and police, as well as the foreign military
from purchasing Maxistar products since that was more economical.
The manufacture of armaments requires skilled and cheap labor, which
the country had, allowing it to be competitive.
The business is all year round,
said Tolentino. “You cannot find our products in the
supermarket,” she said jokingly. “We cannot sell our products to
just any individual.”
Tolentino noted that the
escalated clashes in Mindanao have resulted in a big demand for M-16
magazines. That goes to show how important magazines are in winning
battles.
Perhaps not too many Filipinos
even know that the Filipino soldier and his counterpart in the West
rely on the M-16 magazines made by Maxistar.
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