Inter-agency collaboration for consumer protection reinforced in ConsumerNet assembly
By Niña Jonalyn Gambe-Diamante
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Caraga spearheaded the recent ConsumerNet assembly 2025 in Butuan City.
The participants were the focal persons from the different ConsumerNet member-agencies whose respective mandates include consumer welfare and protection.
DTI Caraga Director Gay A. Tidalgo gave her welcoming remarks, giving emphasis to their appreciation for the active participation and cooperation of the agencies present, exhibiting their dedication and commitment to ConsumerNet’s collective effort in protecting the Filipino consumers. Twenty-four member-agencies out of 27 were able to send their respective representatives to take part in the said event.
“We are very thankful to all of you who took the time to participate here today. May this assembly serve as an avenue for knowledge-sharing among the different partner agencies on the consumer-related issues that we encounter and the solutions thereof,” said Tidalgo.
The resource speakers for the assembly were representatives from six government agencies who discussed relevant and timely issues that are commonly experienced by their consumers and the corresponding measures to counter and prevent such concerns of the public.
The discussions covered the following topics: the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) focused on complaints related to the operations of financial institutions; the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) shared about the common credit-card complaints; the Department of Energy (DOE) thoroughly discussed on the proliferation of fuel dispensers and digital weighing scales with unprotected accuracy adjustments; the Philippine National Police (PNP) focused on complaints involving cybercrimes; the Department of Information, Communication, and Technology (DICT) discussed about issues concerning courier and logistics under the Private Express and Messengerial Delivery Service (PEMEDES); and lastly the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC) elaborated on the common real-estate complaints under their jurisdiction.
Each presentation included the detailed procedures in filing a complaint to the appropriate agencies and the necessary documentation that must be presented for a swifter resolution. The resource speakers called for the support of all member-agencies in disseminating such information to their clients as this will serve as a reference for the consumers should they encounter similar problems in the future.
After the discussions, an open forum was allotted to answer questions and provide further clarification to the participants, fostering open dialogue and inter-agency collaboration towards achieving ConsumerNet’s common goal – to protect the largest sector of the society, the consumers.
The assembly ended with a closing remark from the DTI Caraga Consumer Protection Division Chief Carmela C. Guibone.
“We once again thank all the agencies present today for the overwhelming support that you have continuously contributed to ConsumerNet. We look forward to more collaborations with you as we share the same endeavor towards improving the welfare of our consumers,” Guibone said with enthusiasm. (NJGD, PIA Caraga)