Press Release - Senator Mark Villar Joins DTI on Price Monitoring and Quality Inspection Activity

As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship, Senator Mark Villar joined one of DTI's regular price monitoring activities.

"Ngayon po ay sumama tayo sa DTI sa kanilang price at quality monitoring activity para makita kung ang mga produkto ay sumusunod sa Philippine Standards o PS Quality para sa mga locally-made na produkto at sa Import Commodity Clearance o ICC," Senator Mark said.

He joined Asec. Jean Pacheco, the Officer in Charge of DTI's Consumer Protection Group, and Neil Catajay, the Director of DTI Bureau of Philippine Standards, in inspecting the prices of construction materials, furniture, and fixtures. Some of the products they inspected are light fixtures, tiles, plywood, and appliances.

"Nakakatuwang makita na compliant ang ating mga merchants at retailers sa mga standards ng BPS (Bureau of Philippine Standards). Bukod po sa price monitoring at quality checking, atin pong nasubukan ang mga QR code na naka-attach sa price tag ng mga produkto na nagpapakita kung compliant ang mga ito sa standards," Senator Mark said.

Once scanned thru the app, these QR Code will reveal the technical details of the product which includes but are not limited to brand name, reference standard, and PS mark with license number (if applicable). Senator Mark also inspected whether the products have the PS or ICC sticker as part of BPS' compliance requirements.

"Lalo na ngayong malapit na ang holidays season, kailangan na consistent tayo sa pag-monitor ng presyo ng mga bilihin. Maliban sa mga home improvement equipment and fixtures, mahalaga rin po na ating i-monitor ang presyo ng mga pagkain at bulaklak para masigurado na patas ang presyo para sa ating mga mamimili," Senator Mark added.

Senator Mark, together with Asec. Jean, called for the public's help in reporting any merchant or vendor that is non-compliant with DTI's SRP and quality standards. For complaints, the general public can report to DTI Hotline 1384, to any social media accounts of the agency-DTI Consumer Care Pages on both Facebook and Instagram, or to their [email protected].