Consumer protection in the digital age
Last September 14, as President of Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI), I attended a webinar on “ASEAN’s Priorities in Strengthening Consumer Protection in the Digital Age.” This project led by Mr. Looi
Teck Kheong who is the Assistant Director/Head Competition, Consumer Protection, and Intellectual Property Division of the ASEAN Secretariat.
This online conference had the theme “How Can Digital Self-Determination and Access to Justice Be Guaranteed?” There were many key takeaways and highlights that I wish to share with my readers here.
This undertaking is based on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025, whose ultimate goal is to establish a common ASEAN consumer protection framework through higher levels of consumer protection legislation, improve enforcement and monitoring of consumer protection legislation, and make available redress mechanisms, including alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. AEC also wishes to promote a higher level of consumer empowerment and knowledge by addressing consumer concerns and by enhancing consumer knowledge and advocacy.
AEC‘s target is to build higher con! + commercial transactions by strengthening product safety enforcement, stronger participation of consumer representatives, and promotion of sustainable consumption. Its other mission is to encourage consumerrelated matters in ASEAN policies through impact assessment of consumer protection policies and development of knowledge-based policies. Finally, included in this plan is the aspiration to promote consumer protection measures in products and services sectors such as finance, E-commerce, air transport, energy, and telecommunications.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Consumer Affairs Program (CAP) shared information on approaches to consumer protection to ASEAN Consumer Protection Agencies. Assistance was also provided in a form of various bilateral activities as well as information sharing of ACCCs experience through Online Digests, Video Streams, Blogs, Case Studies and Interactive Webinar.
In Mr. Kheong’s report, there are multiple challenges to the ASEAN digital economy such as:
Laban Konsyumer Inc. will continue to be cognizant of all these concerns and will continue to advocate for and participate in consumer protection activities. These points apply for our country, and even as we are still recovering from the pandemic, it is important to put up the safeguards and protection for the consumers, especially now that the digital age is upon us and online business is booming.
Our active role in consumer protection has received recognition in the ongoing Asean Peer review report of the Philippines’ consumer protection policy, law and practices. The regional expert (Dr. Sathita of Thailand) stated that consumer organizations (LKI) work closely with the consumers. She ! / the important consumer issues to related governmental enforcement agencies and complement the advocacy of the responsible agencies.
Unfortunately however, our policy makers and regulators still have to get their acts together. While consumers are keenly waiting for the Internet Transaction Act or the law on digital trade consumer protection , the regulators are crafting a “Joint Administrative Order ( JAO)” on e- commerce reiterating provisions of existing laws on consumer protection, digital trade, cybercrime and digital privacy . The JAO is an unnecessary overlap, creates confusion in enforcement and counter-productive. There is nothing new in the draft Joint Administrative Order that enhances consumer protection and it is best to drop and forget the issuance of the Joint Administrative Order.
Atty. Vic Dimagiba President, Laban Konsyumer Inc., Email at labankonsyumer@gmail.com
Office space vacancy rate across Metro Manila has reached 17 percent or 2.33 million square meters in the third quarter this year, a property management consultancy study showed.
A study by Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) showed that of
X UU [ spaces, 65 percent are located across 73 buildings and have meaningful vacancies of at least 10,000 sqm. The rest of 35 percent are fragmented spaces across 316 buildings.
^ 1.27 million sqm are located in buildings that are not registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) while the PEZA-registered buildings have current vacant spaces of 1.06 million sqm.
< +! tricts in the National Capital Region, the study showed that Bay Area, Alabang and Quezon City have the highest vacancy rates at 25 percent, 23 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Ortigas/Pasig/Mandaluyong with combined 2.69 million sqm of
! J
Taguig City has the lowest vacan
! also smaller supply of 639,000 sqm. The Makati Business District, which
! of 3.74 million sqm, has 12 percent vacancy rate. More than half of the buildings with sizeable vacancies in Makati were previously tenanted by POGOs.
Meantime, Bonifacio Global City
! XJ sqm has also lower vacancy rate of 13 percent.
LPC, however, said they do not expect the vacancy rate to have a meaningful impact on rental prices. Despite a relatively elevated of^ > ! is on the road to recovery with take! X:XJ UU^::: [! + IT business process management (ITBPM) sector.
Based on the LPC study, of!
+ percent of 2020’s full-year demand.
Compared to previous 2021 quarters, the LPC report showed that third quarter demand slowed due to mobility issues brought about by the rising cases and strict lockdowns of previous months. But this has been
# + XX^::: [ fice leasing requirements seeking to be completed within the next six months, the study explained.
The study also said that contractions have slowed in 3Q 2021 to 42k sqm., decreasing by 69 percent from second quarter 2021. All these led
> ! X:XJ demand to close at 450,000 sqm. – 500,000 sqm. with growth continuing to be led by the IT-BPM sector.
? catalyst of growth and accounts for 129,000 sqm. of the live requirements likely to be closed in six months.
To date, IT-BPM take-up represents 44 percent of the demand or 169,000 sqm. Notably, a high 25 percent or 94,000 sqm have been in provincial locations with IT-BPMs accounting for most of that number. Iloilo took up 37,000 sqm. of that number, outpacing the combined demand year-to-date of Clark, Laguna and Davao.