The road most traveled

We consumers are all road users – fact is, we take the road most traveled when we commute to school, the workplace, or place of recreation (like the malls, though it can be pretty taxing to shop and eat out these days, what with the e-VAT), driving our cars or riding FXes or PUVs almost every day. According to Land Transportation Office (LTO) statistics, 98 percent of travel done in the country by land transport and 78 percent of this are through public vehicles. Some 40 percent of all vehicles in the country are concentrated in Metro Manila with 79 percent of Metro Manila residents commuting every day.

Worldwide statistics likewise show that accidents involving land transportation are far more common than air or sea accidents. Yes, you could be safer up there than down here or out there on the open waters.

Thus, it is imperative to observe road safety, whether you’re a driver, a passenger or a pedestrian. And it’s about time that Konsyumer Atbp, the consumer education program of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Philippine Product Safety and Quality Foundation, tackled road safety. Aired over DZMM 630 kHz every Saturday at 10 to 11:30 a.m., the program has partnered with the LTO to conduct four special episodes on road safety and other consumer concerns related to land transport. The first two episodes were aired last April 29 and May 13. If you failed to tune in, catch the last two episodes on May 27 and June 10 as LTO Assistant Secretary Anneli Lontoc and other guests share valuable down-to-earth information on road safety and answer consumer concerns.

Konsyumer Atbp is hosted by DZMM’s Palengke Queen Winnie Cordero and Intellectual Property Office director general Atty. Adrian "Che" Cristobal.

As one who drives to and from work nearly every day of the week, I wish that aside from safety from road accidents, motorists could also be protected from the assorted undesirable elements lurking in street corners, ready to pounce on their unwitting victims. Like those cell phone snatchers who attack when the traffic light goes red and those street punks who ambush your car and proceed to clean its windshield with their dirty rags (sometimes, they use soap) without your permission. I just don’t know what they do if you don’t give them money for supposedly cleaning your car because I always honk my horn loud enough to scare them away. Or those who slash your car tires while you’re enjoying your seafood paella at a Spanish restaurant on Makati Avenue. Then there are those dirty cops who stop you supposedly for a traffic violation but are really out to extract money from you. Well, these days, you can never be too careful when you’re out on the streets of Metro Manila.

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Look for DTI-certified construction materials

In case you haven’t noticed, with summer at its hottest, construction activities are in full swing all over the metro. And in case you’re building a house or whatever, the Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Product Standards (DTI-BPS) once again admonishes consumers to be very cautious about the quality of building and construction materials that they are purchasing. 

Says Undersecretary for Consumer Welfare Zenaida Cuison Maglaya, "Any structure, no matter how well it was planned or designed, may easily collapse when built using substandard materials and pose grave danger to the people occupying it."

Undersec Maglaya tells the public to be extra cautious when buying particularly 14 types of construction materials that require mandatory product certification from the DTI-BPS prior to distribution or sale. These are the black iron (BI) and galvanized iron (GI) steel pipes, Portland cement, Pozzolan cement, deformed steel bars, flat glass, polybutylene (PB) pipes, polyethylene (PE) pipes for potable water supply, unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) pipes for potable water supply, PVC rigid electrical conduit, PVC-U pipes for drain waste and vent, plywood, rerolled steel bars, steel sheets and coils, and wire nails.

She points out, "Always look out for the Philippine Standard (PS) and Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) marks in these products to be assured of their quality and safety."

DTI-BPS Director Jesus L. Motoomull stresses, "Construction materials commonly used in building houses, offices, schools, roads, and other infrastructure, are just some of the critical products regulated by the Department as they affect life, property, and health. Since it is imperative for these products to have a high degree of reliability for consumer protection, the Bureau requires manufacturers and importers of these products to undergo government tests and inspections so as to ensure that they comply with the safety and quality requirements of a specific Philippine National Standard (PNS)."

Under the BPS product certification scheme, the manufacturers and importers of the said construction materials should have their products tested, based on a specific PNS at the BPS Testing Center or any BPS-accredited or recognized laboratory. Those that comply with the quality and safety requirements of the PNS are issued with the PS license for locally-made products and ICC for imported products.

"The PS and ICC marks are stamped or affixed to the products that passed the safety and quality tests in order to guide consumers in distinguishing reliable and safe goods from inferior or substandard ones," Motoomull explains. "With the regulation of these critical goods, the safety and quality of products are checked for the welfare of the public and businesses as well."

As of December 2005, DTI-BPS has issued 217 PS licenses and 182 ICCs to companies that manufacture and import building and construction materials. These companies have complied with the requirements of the Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 1, series of 1997, which include the alignment of a company’s quality management system to ISO 9000 and the specific PNS for manufacturers, and of the DAO No. 5, series of 2001 for importers.

 "Do not compromise the safety of our loved ones," Director Motoomull can’t stress this enough. "Be vigilant in purchasing critical products such as construction materials to prevent untoward incidents from happening."

 The DTI thus enjoins the buying public to patronize only PS and ICC-marked products on the market. To report or file a complaint against substandard products, consumers can call DTI’s consumer hotline 751-3330. Log on to i-reklamo website www.i-reklamo.ph; e-mail cwd-btrcp@dti.dti.gov.ph, or visit DTI at 361 Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., Makati City.

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