Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual is confident that the Internet Transactions Act (ITA), signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. last Dec. 5, will significantly enhance e-commerce in the Philippines and create more high-quality jobs.
The new law aims to boost and safeguard e-commerce transactions in the country and is a part of the administration’s legislative agenda aimed at building trust in e-commerce and ensuring the development and promotion of e-commerce in the country.
“The Internet Transactions Act (ITA) is a landmark measure as it comes at a time when online selling and online buying is now our way of life,” Pascual said Thursday, Dec. 7, expressing his department’s gratitude for Marcos in promoting the ITA as one of his administration’s 20 priority bills, as well as for Congress's support, especially the main sponsors of the bill.
Marcos signed R.A 11967 entitled "An Act Protecting Consumers and Merchants Engaged in lnternet Transactions, creating for this purpose the Electronic Commerce Bureau,” otherwise known as the ITA last Tuesday.
“Under the law, the regulatory framework is set, and powers are provided to DTI that will allow the Department to effectively protect consumers against unfair trade practices done online,” Pascual added.
The DTI chief said that the department is anticipating the establishment of an e-commerce bureau, providing DTI with necessary resources, "both human and financial", for promoting and developing e-commerce in the country.
The ITA mandates the DTI, through the e-commerce bureau, to create an online business database that will provide government and consumers access to information of businesses selling online.
The e-commerce bureau shall also encourage the establishment of an e-commerce trust mark in close collaboration with the private sector and maintain a government-wide online consumer complaint tracking system that will be actively monitored by the DTI.
RA 11967 also sets the regulatory jurisdiction of the DTI over internet transactions and provides it with powers and authority to issue compliance orders against violators, subpoena, the take down order of websites, including the blacklisting of online businesses. Liabilities of online merchants, e-retailers, e-marketplaces and digital platforms were also set, including penalties for violators.
Further, Pascual emphasized that the DTI has been at the forefront in actively pushing for the passage of ITA, and commended the active participation of the private sector in ensuring a safe cyberspace for Filipinos.
Stakeholders from the private sector, representing digital platforms, e-marketplaces, social media platforms, banks, and digital payment providers, logistics service providers, telcos, fintech, retailers, wholesalers, MSMEs, and enablers, expressed support for the ITA law, emphasizing its significant role in setting standards and institutionalizing a code of conduct within the e-commerce ecosystem.
Companies such as foodpanda, Grab, Lalamove, Lazada, META (Facebook), Pick-a-Roo, PLDT, Shopee, Zalora, Union Bank, industry organizations like the Fintech Alliance, Philippine Retailers Association, and Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines, welcomed the passage of this new law, ensuring the safety of both merchants and consumers.
Also extended their support are research institutions such as UP Law Center, UP Public Administration Research and Extension Services Foundation (UPPAF), Research, Education, and Institutional Development (REID) Foundation.
Donor agencies like the World Bank, and USAID, through Regulatory Reform Support Program for National Development (RESPOND) and Strengthening Private Enterprise for the Digital Economy (SPEED) Project, and advocacy groups such as GoDigital Pilipinas, and Secure Connections are one with the move to safeguard the rights of consumers and merchants in e-commerce landscape.