Vice Mayor J. Melchor Quitain Jr. in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry 11 (DTI 11) led the launching of ‘Ronda Palengke’ at Agdao Public Market in Davao City on Friday.
The ‘Ronda Palengke’ Project is in line with the World’s Consumer Rights Day celebrated every March 15, which aims to empower both consumers and merchants by raising awareness about consumer rights.
Eight units of ‘Timbangan ng Bayan’ were given to different public markets namely Agdao Public Market, Bankerohan Public Market, Toril Public Market, and Calinan Public Market.
The program’s goal is to give rights to the consumers and also improve the trust in the market vendors by reaching the correct weight in the commodities.
The ‘Ronda Palengke’ Project will also include consumer advocacy/info dissemination of consumer protection-related laws to further educate the consuming public.
This is anchored on Republic Act No. 7394, also known as the Consumer Act of the Philippines, which declares as a state policy to protect the interests of the consumer, promote his general welfare, establish standards of conduct for business and industry, and shall implement measures to protect against deceptive, unfair and unconscionable sales acts and practices.
The law tasked DTI as one of the implementing agencies to issue rules and regulations on various Fair Trade Laws (FTLs) that promote the protection, safety, and welfare of consumers.
The FTLs include the establishment of ethical standards for the business establishments to adhere to to ensure display quality and safe products and services in the market.
This will ensure that consumers are protected from unfair and unconscionable sales acts or practices and be protected against unreasonable increases in prices, thus ensuring “value for money”.
