QUEZON CITY (PIA) — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has lined up a four-week plan of activities for this year’s observance of the Consumer Welfare Month (CWM) that will kick off on Sept. 30 with a fitness dance activity to be conducted simultaneously nationwide at 7 a.m.
During the Sept. 25 episode of Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon aired on PTV 4, Atty. Cherryl Carbonell, OIC Director of the Consumer Protection and Advocacy Bureau of DTI, said this year’s CWM carries the theme “Be smart, assert your consumer rights.”
Atty. Carbonell emphasized that consumers should be informed, especially on the eight basic consumer rights: right to basic needs, right to safety, right to information, right to choose, right to consumer education, right to a healthy environment, right of representation, and right to redress.
Each of the eight basic rights is featured in the line-up of activities to be spread out in four weeks.
Highlights for week 1 will focus on basic needs and the right to choose. Activities, including the Diskwento (discount) Caravan, will be conducted nationwide throughout October in partnership with retailers for discounted items. These activities will also be done in cooperation with the Kadiwa Ng Pangulo program.
Week 2 will be the national standards week, which emphasizes the importance of patronizing local products and those with the Philippine standard mark and import commodity clearance mark. Also in week 2, there will be a destruction of confiscated uncertified products to be done in public.
For the third week, activities will involve an information drive on the right to a healthy environment to be simultaneously done by the DIT National Office and regional offices (ROs). Also, there will be environmental activities, such as tree planting, coastal cleanup, and pet bottle collection.
Week 4’s activities will focus on information. DTI’s ROs will have a quiz bee, spoken poetry, songwriting, music video, and film competition.
Also, this week will feature business education seminars, especially copies of new and old laws for businesses to improve compliance with the fair trade rules.
Toward the 5th week—in the lead up to All Saints-and-All Souls’ days—the DTI will line up activities fitting for the tradition.
There will be forums to give way for the discussion of various issues concerning consumer protection.
In the culmination of the month-long activities, the DTI will give recognition and awards to businesses that have adopted responsible business practices.
Atty. Carbonell called on all Filipinos to participate in the CWM events because all consumers have rights to be enjoyed and protected. (PIA-DMD)
