Guide To Understanding Consumer Education

Consumer education is the process of educating the public about their rights when it comes to food purchases. It is the process of providing individuals with the information they need to understand their rights as consumers, discern or judge information, and consume wisely within their means or available resources. In consumer education, it educates the consumer to develop their critical thinking skills and to raise awareness and it allows the consumers to be more cautious. It is also an effective tool for fostering consumer confidence in highly complex markets. Consumer education also helps the consumer to be knowledgeable of the products they were purchasing and to protect to any business malpractices.

There is a law protecting the rights and responsibilities of a consumer which is the consumer act of the Philippines, the Republic act no. 7394 or the consumer act of the Philippines, passed in 1992. Philippines have one of the longest track records of consumer protection in the ASEAN region, according to the ASEAN Peer Review on Consumer Protection. The consumer law establishes the responsibilities and liabilities of producers, manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, or sellers, as well as penalties such as imprisonment, fines, and fees for violating the law. It also specifies administrative sanctions, such as the issuance of a cease and desist order. There’s government agencies that implements the consumer protection. The Department of Trade and Industry or DTI are in charge of carrying out the majority of said provisions of the Consumer Act. However, DTI are not the only one Government Agencies in the Philippines that is in charge in implementing the consumer act of Philippines but also there is a lot of Government agencies that helps DTI to regulate and implement the Consumer Act. These agencies are: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP concerns with regulating banking and non-banking financial institutions; Security and Exchange Commissions or SEC in charge mostly in financing companies and lending companies; Credit Information Corporation or CIC, securing credits information and reports of every consumer. Department of Agriculture or DA, from the name itself, for agricultural products; National Privacy Commission or NPC for me is one of the important government agencies in the Philippines because it protects the information of every individual to avoid such scams; Insurance Commission or IC, companies that are related to insurance and mutual benefits association; and lastly, DOH or the Department of Health whose concern with the products and services that is related to health, food, drugs, cosmetics etc.

There are 8 basic rights and responsibilities that every consumer should know. Start with Right to Basic Needs- the right to necessary and basic goods and services such as sufficient food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, public utilities, water, and sanitation. Right to safety — to be protected against products, production processes and services that are hazardous to health or life. As an individual or a consumer, safety is a must. It is to be aware if the products we were purchasing is a safe and have passed series of tests in safety precautions. Right to be informed — right to be provided with the information needed to make an informed decision and to be protected from deceptive or false advertisement and labeling. We need to be informed with the right information that will be helpful for us to make a decision wisely without any hesitations. Right to choose — to choose from a variety of products and services that are reasonably priced and satisfactory quality. Right to Representation — right to have consumer interests represented in the making and execution of government policy, and in the development of products and services. Right to redress — consumers have the right to a just settling of their claims, including compensation for misrepresentation, poor quality goods, or poor service. As a consumer, we have the rights to complain if we experienced bad service or received a product that is in a bad condition. Right to Consumer Education — to acquire the knowledge and skills required for making informed, confident choices regarding products and services, while still being aware of basic consumer rights and responsibilities as well as how to act on them. Right to a healthy environment — to live and engage in employment in a setting that does not potentially harm the well-being of future generations as well as current ones.

Since then, fraudulent and deceptive practices have been widespread in the Philippines. According to acg.pnp.gov.ph, usually these practices are more prevalent on the internet, which is better known today as internet scams, which started to spread in the early 1990s and 2000s and ranged from computer viruses to web site hacking and financial fraud. Online sellers are often victims of online consumers since almost everyone has access to the internet. If a consumer experiences something like this, it is better to consult the authority immediately so that action can be taken. Some of the types of internet fraud scams involve the boiler room, where a stockbroker will talk to a consumer and encourage them to buy foreign stocks. The caller will promise the consumer something to convince him to buy stocks, but this is a big scam with no real market behind it. To avoid this trend, when someone calls a stockbroker and utters words that are too good to be true, don’t hesitate to believe this because it is a type of scam. Second is the romance scam, which usually occurs on dating sites or dating apps, where scammers will use fake identities to make a consumer fall in love and also to get their heart. When the consumer is attracted, this is where the beginning of asking for money comes in, and if money is not given, the scammer will threaten the consumer with something to get him to agree to give. To avoid this, never involve emotion in decision-making. The decision should be considered against emotion; do not give any debit or bank accounts to the other person. The third is the lottery scam. This is a type of scam through text that says you won a raffle or lottery, but to receive your prize, you are required to pay a large amount in exchange for your prize being received. This type of scam is still prevalent to this day, so the public is advised not to believe this type of text message, especially if you do not bet on the lottery or participate in any raffle. Fourth is phishing, where scammers hack the emails and passwords connected to a consumer’s bank accounts. Hackers create websites that look exactly like legitimate companies to trick consumers into providing the information the scammers require. Once the scammers get the information they need, this is when they start using it in illegal ways. To avoid this, install anti-virus apps or any other pro-protective apps on your computers so that computer viruses do not enter your device; always check the website you are using to see if it is legit by looking for “https” at the beginning of the link address; and do not give out personal information casually by replying to emails that you are not sure if they are legit or not. If you encounter something like this, please report it to the authorities immediately. Deceptive Practices or False advertisements, where the beauty and quality of the advertisement will really get you to buy, but it’s not like in the advertisement you saw. Just like fast food chains, it’s great to watch their commercials on TV. The food that the actor is holding in the commercial is very large and dense. Because you watched it and were hooked, you decided to buy, but what you bought was different from the commercial that the artist was holding. If in the commercial that food is dense and large, but in reality it is only about half that size. Not only in fast food TV commercials, this happens even in products that you might think are good in the advertisement, and it is said that this product is 100% effective, but when you buy it, its effectiveness is less than 50%. That’s why many of us believe more in the saying “to see is to believe”. These are just some of the fraudulent and deceptive practices that often still occur in the Philippines. So it is necessary for everyone to be alert and watchful of what is going on in the environment to avoid becoming a victim of these types of scams.

We, as consumers, cannot avoid experiencing poor quality of service and products. We have the right to complain because we paid for it correctly, and it is also one of our rights as a consumer. Here in the Philippines, there are ways to resolve such cases. This is in accordance with Department Administrative Order №13–02, Series of 2013, or Rules on Mediation in the Resolution of Inquiries, Complaints, or Cases Filed Under the DTI. According to the DTI, or Department of Trade and Industry, if a consumer has a complaint, they can submit a complaint form. There will be a mediation process where the complainant and respondent will be confronted for a clear discussion and agreement. There are different government agencies where you can file a complaint. Just visit the DTI website. https//www.dti.gov.ph/consumers/complaints. It is important to remember to always check the product or service you receive. Make sure it comes from a legitimate store or seller.

Our role as a consumer in accordance to SDG 12 which is the responsible consumption and production is to encourage the use of 3rs or the Reuse, Reduce, Recycle. By this, you can achieve not just the SDG 12 but also the SDG 13 which is the life on land and SDG 14, the Life below water. To achieve this, we should reuse things that can be still be used. Refrain from buying new things if you can still use the older ones, start using eco bags instead of single use plastics, if your destination is nearby, instead of riding a car or any vehicles that uses gas, why not use bicycles or just walk. Walking or riding a bike can even improve your health because it is a type of exercise. You have already helped the environment; you have even exercised. When buying products, check the materials used here to see if they are eco-friendly or not. As consumers, it is important that we know how to properly use our natural resources so that they can be preserved and used by future generations.