THE Department of Trade and Industry said its P300-million program to create a “strike force” to combat hoarders, unscrupulous traders and scammers has yet to get funding for next year.
Trade secretary Alfredo Pascual clarified that they only thought of formally requesting a P300-million budget for consumer protection, given their expanded mandate.
“It became clear na maraming requirements na kailangan. Pero meron kaming separate na request for different responsibilities,” Pascual said in an interview on the sidelines of the 2024 budget deliberations.
Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Villar, who chaired the Senate Subcommittee on Finance that scrutinized the DTI budget, said it was important for the DTI to go after price manipulators.
“Inflation is the most important issue now. So I think it’s very relevant that DTI takes a stronger role in monitoring these hoarders and manipulators,” he said.
“The plan is to centralize the consumer protection activity in the head office and have a quick response task force,” Pascual said.
Trade assistant secretary Mary Jean Pacheco, officer-in-charge of the Consumer Protection Group, explained they intend to use the money to form a “strike force,” which will be tasked to identify and track down unscrupulous traders.
“We will mobilize an inter-DTI strike team to go around the country. To really sort of augment or increase our enforcement activities nationwide,” Pacheco said. (ABS-CBN News)
