DTI to re-file profiteering charges vs millers

MANILA, Philippines - The profiteering cases against 10 millers including San Miguel Mills and Universal Robina Corp. (URC) will be refiled as soon as possible, the consumer arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

“There is a continuing violation of the Price Act because up to now they have not reduced their prices,” Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection (BTRCP) head Victorio Mario Dimagiba said.

The DTI-National Capital Region has already dismissed the profiteering complaint after the BTRCP failed to submit a certification of non forum shopping.

“The complaint was dismissed without even looking at the facts. We will file again this time with complete requirements,” Dimagiba said in an interview over the weekend.

Dimagiba said they decided not to appeal the decision of the DTI-NCR before the Trade Secretary because they do not want “to be bogged down by technicalities.” Also, he said they would like the matter resolved as quickly as possible. The deadline for appeal has already lapsed last Thursday.

Dimagiba said they are fortifying their complaint because millers have not reduced their prices to the correct level therefore there is a continuing violation of the provisions of the Price Act.

“We want to establish that the profiteering is continuing so we would like to update our complaint,” he noted.

On the dismissal, Dimagiba said he does not know why the DTI-NCR dismissed it. “It was a bad decision. Legally it is wrong,” Dimagiba noted.

According to him, the adjudication officer has already issued a provisional order mandating millers to reduce their prices. Although the order was revoked, it does not change the fact that it was issued in the first place, Dimagiba said. Given this, he said the reasoning of DTI-NCR that the case could not proceed because there was no certification for non forum shopping is unacceptable.

Despite the dismissal, Dimagiba stressed that they will still pursue the case against the millers. “Profiteering was committed here. Somebody has to take responsibility.”

Earlier, in a six page order by Adjudication Officer Ma. Carolina I. Carbonell, the DTI-NCR dismissed the complaint without prejudice after the complainant, the BTRCP, failed to submit a certification of non forum shopping.

“Rather, the lack of a certification of forum shopping merely renders the action dismissible, without prejudice,” the decision stated. “Although the technical rules of procedure are not to be strictly applied in quasi-judicial cases, such procedures must nevertheless be observed in order to promote the orderly administration of justice,” it said further.

The adjudication officer did not rule on the merits of the case and the other issues raised by the flour millers because according to the law, failure to submit the certification of non forum shopping is already grounds for dismissal of the case.

“All other issues subject to the resolution of this Office are hereby moot and academic and subsequent orders relative to these are hereby set aside,” Carbonell said in her July 29 order.