DTI Continues to Create and Review Policies that will Further Protect Consumers

Under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) shall endeavor to reduce inequality and poverty by expanding economic opportunities in industry and services, and by increasing the access particularly of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), cooperatives and overseas Filipinos (OFs) to these opportunities.

To attain these sector outcomes by 2022, one of DTI’s goals is to ensure consumer access to safe and quality goods and services by developing policies and programs with the end goal of protecting the consumer against deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable sales act and practices.

For 2020, the DTI’s Consumer Protection Group (CPG) doubled its efforts in strengthening consumer protection amidst the declaration of a state of emergency due to COVID-19.

“We have been working closely with relevant government agencies and private organizations to ensure that the policies we create are responsive to the needs of the business sector, and more importantly of, the consumers”, CPG Undersecretary Ruth B. Castelo explained.

To address consumer queries and ensure their safety while implementing a community quarantine, the DTI-CPG developed a total of 16 policies and implemented them accordingly.