Marlen V. Ronquillo
The boldest economic statement made by Mr. Duterte, bar none, is his push for a manufacturing resurgence. Those who grew up in the 1960s to the early 1980s, regardless of persuasion and inclination, cheered and why not. Those with political awareness were reminded of the days of unionized factory workers spread across Metro Manila areas and they made up the de facto middle class. Those keen on sports and the like remembered the days of major basketball teams--Crispa that manufactured shirts, Toyota that assembled cars and U-Tex, then a thriving textile firm with a giant factory of more than a thousand workers along the Marikina River banks.