San Fernando City, La Union- Consumer empowerment leads to a product quality and safety conscious society. Thus, the Department of Trade and Industry Region 1 (DTI R1) stays committed to its mission to protect the welfare of the consumers and enjoins everyone to celebrate the Consumer Welfare Month (CWM) this October.

 

A Fun Run on October 5, 2018 will kick-off the month-long celebration. 500 runners from different consumer groups, business sector, government and non-government agencies and other stakeholders will be joining the 3-kilometer and 5-kilometer distance run to be held at Poro Point Event Center. Runners will be given free singlets and race bibs. Gun start will be at 6:00 AM after the warm-up Zumba exercise.

 

Also part of the CWM celebration is DTI Provincial Offices’ conduct of DTI- Certified Establishment (DTI-CE) or known as the Bagwis Awards. Now on its 12th year, the Bagwis Awards continuously gives due recognition to establishments that uphold the
rights of consumers, practice responsible business operations and assure that consumers get best value for their money. In 2016, DTI Region 1 was awarded as the region with the most number of Bagwis Awardees nationwide.

 

DTI Suking Tindahan Program will also be launched in the region. In this program, DTI will acknowledge “sari-sari” stores in the barangays that sell basic necessities and prime commodities within or lower than the Suggested Retail Price (SRP). A Suking Tindahan certificate will be given to these stores. With the Suking Tindahan Program, consumers can be assured that they can still get the best value of their money while saving time and cost in going to supermarkets.

 

Forums and seminars on Product Standard Conformance, Market Monitoring and Enforcement, Consumer Education and Information campaigns will also be conducted at identified places in the region.

 

This year’s celebration theme, “Making Digital Market Places Fairer” will focus on the impacts of digital technology and how it helps in the attainment of product quality and safety conscious society. With the advent of technology, more and more
consumers are choosing the convenient way of shopping online. For safety, DTI has urged consumers to be vigilant, discerning and wiser in order not to be taken advantaged of by unscrupulous online sellers.

 

Based on Presidential Proclamation No. 1098, the month of October is declared as the Consumer Welfare Month. This is to increase the public’s awareness on the consumer rights, policies and protections by conducting activities and dissemination of information.♦