Poe pushes market ‘timbangan’ centers for consumer protection

IN a bid to protect consumers from being shortchanged by faulty weighing scales of unscrupulous traders, Sen. Grace Poe is pushing the passage of a law setting up so-called timbangan centers near malls, supermarkets, groceries, private and public markets to render service free of charge.

“Filipino consumers must be protected from these defective or substandard products,” Poe said in filing Senate Bill 2050 in a bid to “assure Filipino consumers that the products they buy from groceries or public markets have accurate weight and size.”

Pointing out that “the height, weight and other measurements are the primary indicators of the quality of a product,” the senator asserted that “if actual measurements of a product do not meet what is published, then it is a likely indicator that it is defective or even substandard.”

Poe proposes the establishment of timbangan centers through remedial legislation that, she said, would amend and introduce a provision in Republic Act 7364, also known as the Consumer Act of the Philippines.

Envisioning the creation of timbangan centers in all local government units the senator explains: “This is to make all timbangan Centers to be placed in publicly accessible locations and enable those who may want to verify the accuracy of the quantity and measurements of the products they purchased.”

She added that as provided in the bill, market supervisors will be in charge of the safekeeping and maintenance of such facilities.

“They shall likewise keep a record of all products found to be wanting in quantity or substandard in dimension, the establishment where the same were bought and the name of the proprietor or manager.”