LOCALLY bred franchisers are seeking the enactment of a law and the creation of a government body that will regulate the franchising industry and guard the public against “fly-by-night franchisors.”

Richard Sanz, director and public relations officer of the Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc. (Affi) and franchisor of Tea Square, said the government needs to be more proactive in regulating the franchising business in the country, especially now that more Filipinos are looking for business concepts to augment their income during these times of crisis.

Sanz said his group already received complaints against erring franchisers who ran away with the money of their franchisees without providing the necessary business supports that they promised, such as marketing and logistics.

Affi is concerned about budding businessmen who try their luck in going into franchised businesses, but who need protection from unscrupulous franchisers who are out to take their money.

Without the regulatory agency and laws to guard franchisees against their franchisors, Affi said all the industry could do is self-policing.

“Affi does not have police power. We can only reprimand our own member. The severe penalty that an erring member can get is expulsion from the organization,” Sanz said.

Food Asia Corp. owner Richie Cuna, Affi chairman, said the organization has already removed from its roster at least five franchisors for failure to make true their promises to their franchisees.

Cuna said Affi is now very strict in accepting applicants to the organization as they go as far as checking personally the outlets and the commissary of franchisers who want to join Affi.

Affi currently has 80 members with combined 4,000 outlet, about 60 percent of which are in the food segment and the rest in services.

Affi president Rommel Juan, owner of Binalot Fiesta Foods, said with the rate of the expansion of the industry, it is poised to match its 2007 growth of 27 percent this year.

Teresita Ngan Tian, Lots’ A Pizza owner and one of the Affi founders, said the food and oil crises have actually become growth factors for the industry as more Filipinos are seeking to establish their own franchise business as a way to augment their income and salaries.

“We are taking the situation positively. We know that there will be growth opportunities coming out of the crisis,” Ngan Tian said.

Manufacturing output expands 5.1% in June

THE country’s manufacturing output has posted a modest year-on-year growth of 5.1 percent in June, according to the latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Tuesday.

17th Mindanao business meet opens today in Dipolog City

ZAMBOANGA CITY—For businessmen and other concerned stakeholders, all roads lead today, Wednesday, to Dipolog City, the capital of Zamboanga del Norte, the venue of the 17th Mindanao Business Conference (Minbizcon).

Coco exports in May drop 40%, PCA figures show

THE country’s coconut exports for the month of May dropped by almost 41 percent to 95,271 metric tons (MT) in copra terms, from 160,939 MT shipped out in the same period last year, according to official figures from the Philippine Coconut Authority.

Local franchisers seek law to regulate franchising industry

LOCALLY bred franchisers are seeking the enactment of a law and the creation of a government body that will regulate the franchising industry and guard the public against “fly-by-night franchisors.”

Government eyes spreading cost impact of San Jose outage

WEEKS after the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) had announced an irregularity in electricity prices in its Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) owing to an outage of a transmission facility in Bulacan, the Department of Energy (DOE) has broken its silence, saying the government desires to minimize the price impacts on the public.

Subic golf course in $48-M redevelopment

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Hanafil Golf & Tour Inc., a Korean-Filipino company that recently won the contract to operate the 18-hole golf course here, announced on Tuesday the $48-million redevelopment of the Subic Bay Golf and Country Club into an all-weather championship course and a full-blown country club.

Government to revitalize tourism promo in Japan

With Japanese tourist arrivals dropping by 6 percent in the first half of the year, the government has decided to revitalize its tourism promotional efforts in Japan by coming up with new offerings to lure particular segments of Japanese visitors here.