Senator Mark Villar joined the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in its regular price monitoring activities to see if products are in adherence with Philippine standards or PS quality for those locally made and the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC).

Villar, who chairs the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship, joined Assistant Secretary Jean Pacheco, the officer-in-charge of DTI’s Consumer Protection Group, and Neil Catajay, the Director of DTI Bureau of Philippine Standards, in inspecting the prices of construction materials, furniture, and fixtures.

Some of the products they inspected were light fixtures, tiles, plywood, and appliances.

“Nakakatuwang makita na compliant ang ating mga merchants at retailers sa mga standards ng Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS). Bukod po sa price monitoring at quality checking, atin pong nasubukan ang mga QR code na naka-attach sa price tag ng mga produkto na nagpapakita kung compliant ang mga ito sa standards (It's good to see that merchants and retailers are compliant with the standards of the BPS. Aside from price monitoring and quality checking we also tried the QR code which is attached to price tags of products to show that these are compliant with standards),” Villar said.

Once scanned through the app, the QR code will reveal the technical details of the product which includes but are not limited to brand name, reference standard, and PS mark with license number (if applicable).

The senator also inspected whether or not the products had the PS or ICC sticker as part of BPS compliance requirements.

“Lalo na ngayong malapit na ang holidays season, kailangan na consistent tayo sa pag-monitor ng presyo ng mga bilihin. Maliban sa mga home improvement equipment and fixtures, mahalaga rin po na ating i-monitor ang presyo ng mga pagkain at bulaklak para masigurado na patas ang presyo para sa ating mga mamimili (Especially now that the holiday season is near, we have to be consistent in monitoring the price of goods. Aside from home improvement equipment and fixtures, it's also important to monitor the price of food products and flowers to make sure its prices are fair to consumers),” he stated.

Villar, together with Pacheco, called for the public’s help in reporting merchants or vendors who were non-compliant with DTI’s suggested retail price (SRP) and quality standards.

For complaints, the general public can report to DTI hotline 1384 or to any of agency's social media accounts.