CA called upon to safeguard welfare of consumers anew
With the case now in the hands of our magistrates, it is our sincere hope that the CA will be guided by what is righteous, correct, and beneficial to the greater number of Filipinos.
PENDING before the Court of appeals (Ca) is another case that highlights the role of the judiciary in safeguarding the welfare of Filipino consumers and workers.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the chief guardian of consumer welfare, has brought to the appellate court the injunction granted by two trial courts against the imposition of mandatory standards on flat glass.
For background purposes, when the only manufacturer of flat glass in the country was still owned by the Japanese, the government instituted mandatory standards for this critical commodity, covering both locally made and imported flat glass products.
The goal of having product standards is simple—to protect the consumers from substandard flat glass products to avoid death or injury, especially as we prepare for the socalled Big One. We all know how the government and private sector have been campaigning for the “Duck, Cover, and Hold” earthquake drills. But if the construction materials we use are substandard—particularly the cement, steel, and glass—the bigger concern is this: “Would the building hold?”
This is how critical the case pending before the appellate court is to Filipino consumers.
The DTI opted to implement the mandatory standards again after Asahi Glass was bought by Filipino firm Pioneer Glass. I remember that as its chairman, I led the efforts of the Federation of Philippine Industries in convincing the DTI to reinstitute the standards.
We were wondering why the issue cropped up. When the glass manufacturing plant was still owned by the Japanese, the importers did not bother to question the mandatory standards. Now, when Asahi Glass was bought by a Filipino businessman who was also a former flat glass trader to save the jobs of workers and the local industry, the other importers suddenly went to court to question the mandatory quality standards.
The conditions are the same as before—the mandatory standards apply to both locally produced and imported f lat glass. There is no unfair competition or cartel or monopoly because everybody can still import and compete freely in the market, the only requirement being the product should adhere to the mandatory quality standards for the protection of the consumers.
When the two trial courts granted the petition for injunction filed by importers against the DTI’S implementation of the mandatory standards for flat glass, the courts did not get the side of the consumers.
Would it not have been better if the two courts heard the consumers first before deciding? To my mind, the ultimate beneficiaries of product standards are the consumers, not the local manufacturers or the importers. Hence, I personally believe that the consumers are the indispensable party to the case. Product standards are there to protect the consumers from substandard products, be they locally made or imported.
With the case now in the hands of our magistrates, it is our sincere hope that the CA will be guided by what is righteous, correct, and beneficial to the greater number of Filipinos.
Our doctors and nurses all over the world have been honored and countless of them have sacrificed their lives in rendering services to humanity. Just like the African-americans, Filipinoamerican lives matter. They are called frontliners but the fact is they are the last line of defense against the coronavirus.
Black lives matter, and so are the lives of asian-americans. Recently, there has been a spate of violence and criminality committed against african-americans in the US. Recent reports show that hate crimes targeting asians living in the United States have spiked by at least 150 percent in most populous american cities during the first year of the pandemic. For instance, it was highest in New York city, which has a burgeoning asian population. the premier US city posted a 9-fold increase in anti-asian hate crime in 2020 compared to the previous year. this was followed by double to triple percentage increase in other major metropolises like los angeles, San Francisco Bay area, Philadelphia and cleveland where there are sizable asianamerican communities. During the same period, there is an overall hate crime decline against other ethnic races like Jews and latinos but the attacks against asians have grown.
Many Asian advocacy groups track Asian hate crimes and document such incidents. One leading organization, Stop AAPI Hate, has recorded close to 3,000 reports of racial attacks and racial discrimination since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 until December 2020. Of these, nearly 10 percent involved physical assaults. US media like CNN have covered and reported several violent incidents where Asian-americans were at the receiving end of brutal assaults. One such incident showed an elderly 91-yearold Asian was forcibly pushed to the ground. Another 36-year-old Asian was stabbed in NYC’S Chinatown in another hate crime attack. Our very own compatriot, Noel Quintana, was attacked while taking a subway train in Manhattan, New York. The 61-year-old Filipinoamerican was on his way to work when a man slashed his face as they alighted from the train. His assailant had been kicking his backpack during their train ride and when he asked him to stop it, the man attacked him and escaped. Another Filipina complained that she was assaulted without any provocation in San Diego, California. Only a couple of days ago, eight women were killed in a massage parlor shooting in Atlanta, Georgia. At least four of the victims were believed to be Asian-americans. These incidents are definitely alarming and the US authorities should address it before it gets out of hand. Our government has requested the US government to secure the safety of the Filipinos and other Asian-americans and to protect them against racial violence.
Asians who look like Chinese are most vulnerable to hate attacks. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been an alarming increase in physical violence targeting Asian-americans. This has been attributed to former President Donald J. Trump’s rhetoric against the Chinese for causing the lethal coronavirus. Trump even labeled the disease as the Chinese virus and this has inflamed the smoldering ember of anti-asian sentiment in the US.
Filipino-americans constitute the 3rd largest Asian-americans in the US. The Filipino population in the US is estimated to be 4.1 million. Asian-americans of Chinese and Indian descents are the two biggest groups accounting for 24 percent and 20 percent of the estimated 21.65 Asian-americans. Filipinos make up 18 percent of this group. Filipino migration to the US was driven by long-standing historical ties between the two countries owing largely to the fact that the Philippines was a former colony of the US. Filipinos pursued their American dream by working in the health sector, service industry, IT, hotel and tourism, armed forces, education, and many other services and businesses. Our medical health workers are the frontliners in the battle against the coronavirus. Their valuable services to the health-care systems of various countries like the US, UK and others are universally recognized. Our doctors and nurses all over the world have been honored and countless of them have sacrificed their lives in rendering services to humanity. Just like the Africanamericans, Filipino-american lives matter. They are called frontliners but the fact is they are the last line of defense against the coronavirus. Many of them have lost their lives saving the lives of strangers in a foreign soil they now call home. Their absolute commitment to their noble calling as nurses or doctors is inspiring. No less than Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City has hailed the Filipino community during the celebration of the Filipino-american History Month last October 2020. He greeted the Filipinos by saying: “Today, we celebrate the start of Filipino American History Month. And we’re proud to be the home of more than 80,000 Filipino New Yorkers who make this city a richer, stronger place. And this year, we recognize the incredible work and sacrifice of all of you who served on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic.” He stressed that more than a quarter of immigrant nurses in the US are Filipinos. “So, it’s no exaggeration to say we literally would have not survived the Covid-19 pandemic without all of you, our brothers and sisters… Thank you for protecting us.”
The ugly Americans who violently assault Filipinos should hearken to Mayor de Blasio’s voice to realize that Filipino-american lives greatly matter.