Mr GrumpY Philippines

Online Shopping Platforms

The Covid pandemic drove me, and many others to use online shopping platforms, such as Lazada, Shopee and those of other retail outlets.

Lazada and Shopee have developed sophisticated systems for ordering, payments and delivery, but I would never use a debit or credit card for a transaction. This is because of the staggering level of fraud and other skullduggery that the proprietors allow to thrive on these platforms.

A trawl through the Lazada and Shopee online catalogues reveals a plethora of obviously fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation. Who, then, should a consumer turn to if they become a victim of one of these scams?

Lazada and Shopee have codes of conduct for those wishing to sell products on their platforms but seem unwilling or unable to enforce them.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is mandated under R.A. 7394, The Consumer Act of the Philippines, to enforce the rules and regulations in respect of non-agricultural or health related products and services, and to adopt product quality and safety standards.

I have some experience of dealing with the DTI, having filed a complaint against an online supplier in 2022. I sent my file to my Regional Office from which it was forwarded to the Consumer Protection Division. Six weeks later I emailed the Regional Office saying that I had heard nothing for six weeks and that this was at odds with the DTI’s Citizens Charter commitment to manage complaints within seven days. While waiting for the DTI to consider my complaint, the online platform had accepted the veracity of my claim for a refund, (I had paid C.O.D), much to the chagrin of the seller. The DTI took the view that this settled the matter and thus failed to understand the underlying purpose of my complaint which was that in its role as enforcer:

“The DTI investigate this matter with a view to censuring [Seller] and   similarly inclined sellers on the [Online Platform] and other online platforms and prohibit such sellers from continuing their illegal practices. I further pray that the DTI encourage [Online Platform] and other online platforms to exercise greater diligence in the recruitment of sellers and the monitoring of sellers’ activities, to ensure compliance with the platforms’ stated commercial policies.”

The DTI responded that this was “apparently beyond our jurisdiction” and suggested I direct my complaint to either the online platform, the PNP or the NBI.

The Internet Transactions Act of 2023, R.A.11967, was signed into law by President Marcos on 5 December 2023. In this Act the DTI is charged with the creation of the E-Commerce Bureau to implement, monitor, and ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the Act, within six months from enactment.

On 24 May 2024, the E-Commerce Unit of the DTI, which was established in 2009, published the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Internet Transactions Act of 2023, wherein the E-Commerce Bureau was created.

Other than the forementioned, I cannot find any information online about the activities of the E-Commerce Bureau, which suggests to me that there are none.

So, what has changed?

On 24 November 2024, in Senate Resolution 1232, Senator Raffy Tulfo noted  that among other reasons for his request for a Senate Inquiry, that “the sale of fake, copycat or substandard products continue to proliferate across online selling platforms”, and that “the Philippines has in fact been labelled as Asia's epicenter for online shopping scams”. I have been unable to trace any evidence of a Senate Inquiry.

It appears that other than the enactment of multiple laws, neither government nor its agencies are prepared to enforce said laws in the interest of consumers, thus allowing online sellers and platforms to operate with impunity. This being the case, it falls to individual consumers to be tenacious in their pursuit of refunds, repairs or replacements and not allow themselves to be fobbed off by legal gobbledegook from those who refuse to accept their legal obligations.

Not all consumers have the wherewithal to pursue their legal remedies, and those same consumers are more likely to be gullible to online skullduggery and less able to afford the consequences. It is therefore necessary for the law to be enforced in the first instance by prevention, which can only be achieved by the mandated agencies.

As with most things in life, prevention is better than the cure.

What is a Consumer

What do we mean by a consumer? Well for the purposes of this blog Mr Grumpy will dispense with the scientific or ecological definitions. So, whether you are a carnivore, herbivore, omnivore or carrion feeder your dietary habits are of no concern to us.

Economically consumers are the end users of tangible and intangible goods and services. R.A. 7394 (The Consumer Act of the Philippines) defines a consumer as “a natural person who is a purchaser, lessee, recipient or prospective purchaser, lessor or recipient of consumer products, services or credit”. Consumers can be citizens, electors and taxpayers who are also government paymasters.

In most economies, government is the biggest provider of services. The Declaration of Basic Policy in R.A.7394 is “It is the policy of the State to protect the interests of the consumer, promote his general welfare and to establish standards of conduct for business and industry”. Notice that the State does not appear to want to protect the consumer from the biggest provider of consumer services – government.

This blogsite will subject business, industry and government departments to equal scrutiny.

The Philippines Consumer

Consumers in the Philippines get a raw deal from business and government. Mr Grumpy intends to highlight instances of consumer abuse in its many forms, and to encourage Filipinos to pursue the legal rights that many do not realise they have.The slogan "the customer is always right" was popularised over a hundred years ago by ethical retailers in the United States at a time when misrepresentation was rife and "caveat emptor", ("let the buyer beware"), the prevailing legal defence.The Consumer Act of the Philippines (R.A.7394) was enacted in 1992 and set out the rights and obligations of both consumers and business. Mr Grumpy also aims to encourage government and government agencies to rigorously enforce that legislation.
Consumers are the drivers of a nation's economy. Without consumers there is no economy