In line with the month-long celebration of Consumer Welfare Month (CWM), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) urges consumers to exercise their responsibility to protect the environment by adopting sustainable lifestyles to conserve resources and reduce waste.

The CWM celebration is intended to instill the importance of responsible consumption, and adopting sustainable lifestyles to foster genuine and long-term change.

During the CWM Press Conference on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the Board of Investments Building, DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual highlighted that the celebration is in line with the theme “GenS: Generation Sustainable” with the practice of 7Rs: Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose, and Repair.

“Our actions as responsible consumers serve our environment and pave the way for a healthier and more equitable world for the generations that follow us,” Pascual said.

Throughout the month, the DTI will hold activities aligned with the 7Rs to help create interest and awareness on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP).

In addition, a wide range of affordable manufactured goods will be up for grabs as the DTI continues to hold the Diskwento Caravan in Makati City, Quezon City, and San Juan City. Other activities include webinars, monitoring, and laboratory visits.

The DTI Regional and Provincial Offices will likewise conduct various activities such as Quiz Bee, Zumba, Seminar, Poster Making Contest, Diskwento Caravan, and Awarding of Bagwis Seals, among others.  

“Consumer welfare is more than a month-long focus – it’s a continuous commitment to making beneficial choices for ourselves and our society,” Pascual added. 

Solving Price Issues

Moreover, the DTI chief also emphasized at the presscon that this month-long celebration is to inform the consumers about the DTI's efforts to address inflation-related price issues, particularly of farm-produced goods.

“I think the Consumer Welfare Month Celebration is to make our consumers [informed] that there is an agency like the [DTI] that is looking after their welfare,” Pascual said.

“We also want our consumers to be aware that the [DTI] is helping and contributing to solving the issue of price, particularly of farm-produced good products,” he added.

For instance, Pascual said that the DTI is working on setting up additional facilities similar to the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal (NVAT), which aims to link local farmers directly with buyers, across the country. This will streamline goods transfer processes, reducing transport costs and logistics costs for producers.

This effort is in line with the Three-Year Food Logistics Action Agenda outlining six successful strategies, including reducing transport and logistics costs. (Ma. Joselie C. Garcia)