Empowering consumers

Around the world, October is a month of assorted feasts and fests. In India, it’s an exuberant, lavish season for festivals of dance, drama, etc. In Italy, it’s triple the fun with its truffle fairs and food fests — grazie! In Munich, Germany, it’s a time for roasts and toasts, what with the 16-day-long Oktoberfest, the largest beer festival in the world, in full throttle.

But did you know that October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month? And that it’s also Consumer Welfare Month?

Year after year, Presidential Proclamation No. 1098, Series of 1997 declares October as Consumer Welfare Month to draw attention to efforts to strengthen Republic Act 7394, also known as the Consumer Act of the Philippines.  

Oh, yes, dear consumers, there’s such a thing as the Consumer Act of the Philippines. FYI, there are pending bills in both houses of Congress that seek to amend R.A. 7394, which was approved in 1992 (thanks to principal authors Congressman Emigdio Tanjuatco Jr. and Senator Orlando Mercado, and the indispensable role played by consumerist Atty. Zenaida Reyes and the UP Law Center).  These bills include House Bill 5072 introduced by Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, and House Bill 1634 introduced by Reps. Maximo and Rufus Rodriguez, as well as Senate Bills 2699 and 458 introduced by Senators Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and Ralph Recto.  Fortunately, the amendment of RA 7394 is among the legislative priorities of the Aquino presidency.

Sen. Bam Aquino, who chairs the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, explained, “In order to build stronger commercial systems and maintain thriving markets, there is a need to bolster the rights and responsibilities of consumers.” 

According to Aquino, the amended law will address the current issues of consumers and markets today, including concerns related to e-commerce such as the risk of fraud, scams, and other security matters.

Who are the consumers? In 1962, US President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress, thus: “Consumers, by definition, include us all. They are the largest economic group, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision. Yet they are the only important group ... whose views are often not heard.”

A number of public interest groups, such as Arugaan, Consumer Rights for Safe Food, Interface Development Interventions, and the EcoWaste Coalition, are throwing their support behind a strengthened Consumer Act to improve consumer access to information, redress and justice; promote ethical and fair business practices, prevent illegal trade of products that are dangerous to health and the environment, and ensure effective enforcement of the law to protect all consumers.  

Below are the amendments being sought to add teeth to the Consumer Act and thus empower consumers, as gathered from Senate Bill 2699.

• On consumer rights and responsibilities:

If amended, the law will adopt a set of eight basic consumer rights as well as a set of five consumer responsibilities to complement these rights as promoted by Consumers International, “the global voice for consumers.”  These rights include: the right to basic needs, the right to choose, the right to representation, the right to redress, the right to safety, the right to consumer education, the right to information, and the right to a healthy environment.

With these rights come important responsibilities (thanks to consumerist Anwar Fazal who hewed and popularized them) such as: critical awareness — consumers shall be alert and inquisitive about the use, price, and quality of goods and services; action — consumers shall assert their rights and act to ensure a fair deal; social concern — consumers shall be aware of how their consumption impacts on others, particularly the disadvantaged and powerless; environmental awareness — consumers shall understand the environmental consequences of their consumption and recognize individual and social responsibility to conserve natural resources and protect Mother Earth for future generations; and solidarity — consumers shall organize themselves to develop their strength and promote and protect their interests.

• On product quality and safety:  If revised, the law will authorize implementing agencies, such as the Department of Trade and Industry and others, to automatically shut down any establishments caught in the act of selling, distributing, manufacturing, producing, displaying or importing substandard and hazardous products.  The responsibility of the manufacturer, distributor or seller to recall injurious, unsafe or dangerous products “without delay” and to duly inform consumers was also reinforced.

• On product and service warranties: Under the bill, manufacturers or distributors will be required to “maintain consumer hotlines or service centers that consumers can easily reach for complaints and inquiries by phone, e-mail or other effective means,” stressing that “consumers must not be made to suffer great inconveniences in contacting manufacturers to claim warranties and other needed services.”  

• On product labeling and packaging: The amended law will require English or Filipino translation of product labels written in foreign characters or languages to assist consumers in making informed purchasing decisions, and to enable regulators to determine if the product complies with all the other labeling requirements.

• On liability for products and services: Under this bill, the manufacturer must inform the consumer about which particular parts of the goods are damaged and have to be repaired, giving the consumer the option to seek replacement only for the damaged parts.

• On false, deceptive, and misleading advertisement: Mobile phone and the Internet were added among the various media through which it shall be unlawful to disseminate any false, deceptive or misleading advertisement.

• On consumer complaints: To beef up the law, penalties will be significantly increased. For example, the administrative fines that can be imposed “shall in no case be less than P50,000 or more than P10 million and which amount of fines shall be computed on the 5% of the gross value of sales of the consumer product and service subject of a consumer complaint.” 

Reps. Maximo and Rufus Rodriguez observed, “Due to the relatively low penalties provided, violators will rather pay the penalties instead of complying with the law.” 

More, the amended law will expand the National Consumer Affairs Council to include the Central Bank of the Philippines and the Departments of Education and Energy, as well as ensure budget and staff support for the Council, which is tasked, among other things, to recommend new consumer policies and undertake continuing consumer information and education.

For the welfare of all Pinoy consumers, our lawmakers should expedite the passage of these amendments to the Consumer Act as the number of legislative days continues to dwindle.  With the plethora of problems facing consumers — from price, quality and safety issues to get-rich-quick scams — there is no doubt that Congress needs to give this doddering 23-year-old law a much-needed shot in the arm.