REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA 
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS 
Second Regular Session 
House Bill No. __________ 
Introduced by Representative SHIRLYN L. BAÑAS-NOGRALES 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
This Bill seeks to create a full-fledged Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) field 
office in General Santos City, with complete manpower complement and budget allocation in 
the annual General Appropriations Act, just like the way other city and provincial offices of 
the DTI operate.  Currently, the DTI in General Santos City is operating only as a satellite 
office of DTI Regional Office XII with a Division Chief as the highest-ranked officer serving 
as Caretaker.  
General Santos City has a total land area of 492.82 square kilometers with a 
population of 594,446 inhabitants and an average annual population growth rate of 1.91% 
based on PSA 2015 census.  The then municipality was chartered as a city on 05 June 1968 
and has been declared as a highly-urbanized city on 05 September 1988.  With the passage 
and approval of R.A. 11243 on 11 March 2019, the First Legislative District of South 
Cotabato has been reapportioned, thus, creating the Lone Legislative District of General 
Santos City.   
General Santos City plays a vital role in the economy of Mindanao.  Based on 2019 
Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index Survey, General Santos City is considered 
as the 3rd Most Competitive Highly-Urbanized City in Mindanao.   General Santos City, 
being the only highly-urbanized city in the South Central Mindanao and the 3rd largest 
economy in Mindanao, is the hub of commerce and trade in SOCCSKSARGEN or Region 
XII. It has four (4) major gateways: the international airport, seaport, fish port, and land
transport hub.
The city owed its growth and development from hosting major industries that include 
agribusiness, banking, e-services, tourism, manufacturing, and trading.  The city’s export 
value in 2019 amounted to US$1.06 billion mainly from fresh and canned tuna, fresh and 
canned pineapple, and crude coconut oil. The city is home to seven (7) out of eight (8) tuna 
processing plants in the country. It is also hosting the highest number of business 
establishments in Region XII that reached to 11,386, and the highest number of banking 
institutions, hospitals, DOT-accredited hotels, and malls in the entire region. 
August 26, 2021
12:55 pm
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Through the years, the DTI Regional Office XII Satellite Office in General Santos 
City posted the highest number of registered businesses in the region at an average of 10,200 
registrants per year, or functioning on personnel to client ratio of 1:927 which is higher 
compared to the other full-fledged DTI offices operating within the region.  In addition to its 
local clientele, the DTI satellite office is also serving the clients coming from the provinces of 
Sarangani, South Cotabato, Davao Del Sur and Davao Occidental who would prefer to do 
business transactions at the satellite office, i.e., business name registration, owing to the city’s 
geographical advantage and accessibility, and the presence of the most number of finance, 
service, and retail industries in the region. 
The facilitation of a full-fledged DTI office in the city in terms of intervention and 
participation to the international issues and export promotion of the tuna industry cannot be 
overemphasized.  The trade and commerce conferences and meetings in the region are mostly 
held in General Santos City, thus, requires the representation of director level from the DTI.  
Moreover, as the city now becoming a host to the growing community of business start-ups 
and emerging as the regional center of ICT industry, the DTI satellite office needs sufficient 
numbers of personnel to work for the enormous job. 
Finally, the tremendous impact of Covid-19 pandemic to the Micro, Small and 
Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which comprises about 99.5% of all the businesses in the 
country, necessitates various interventions and initiatives from the government and private 
sectors. In order for the MSMEs in the city to recover fast enough as the recovery stage is 
now on its way, it is vital to provide a venue where a complete package of assistance will be 
provided with advisories on business registration, product development and promotion, and a 
venue to develop innovativeness among MSMEs to cope and sustain their business under the 
new normal.  But we would like to believe that these much needed and urgent interventions 
cannot be dispensed with dispatch because of the limited capability presently besetting the 
DTI satellite office in General Santos City.  
In view of the foregoing, immediate approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
SHIRLYN L. BAÑAS-NOGRALES 


REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA 
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS 
Second Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. __________ 
AN ACT  
ESTABLISHING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY  
FIELD OFFICE IN GENERAL SANTOS CITY, APPRORPIATING FUNDS 
THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
Introduced by Representative SHIRLYN L. BAÑAS-NOGRALES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
Section 1.  There shall be established the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 
Field Office in General Santos City. 
Section 2.  The Department of Trade and Industry Field Office shall be headed by a 
City Director to be appointed by the President of the Philippines.  The organizational 
structure and additional plantilla positions to be created under this Act shall be determined by 
the Department of Trade and Industry, in coordination with the Department of Budget and 
Management and the Civil Service Commission. 
Section 3. The amount necessary to carry out the implementation of this Act shall be 
charged against the appropriations of the Department of Trade and Industry for the current 
fiscal year.  Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the operation and maintenance 
of the DTI Field Office in General Santos City shall be included in the annual General 
Appropriations Act. 
Section 4.  Within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act, the Department of 
Trade and Industry shall prepare the rules and regulations necessary for the implementation 
of this Act. 
Section 5. All laws, executive orders, issuances, rules and regulations inconsistent 
with this Act are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly. 
Section 6.  This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the 
Official Gazatte or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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