December 6, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has reminded online merchants to provide detailed information about their sellers as required under Republic Act 11967 or the Internet Transaction Law enacted a year ago.
In Wednesday’s Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum, DTI Undersecretary Mary Jane Pacheco said one of the requirements in the law is the development of an online business database.
“Before you buy an item on the internet, you can check if the seller is legitimate. That’s one of the good things about an online business database…We need to collect the information,” she said.
She added said these information are crucial for the consumers to determine the status of products being sold online.
Online platforms such as Pandora, Carousel, Lazada and Shopee have been informed of this requirement but have appealed for more time, claiming that the DTI was asking for a “lot of data.”
Scam Watch Philippines founder Jocel de Guzman warned online platforms about posting misleading promotions or advertisements. “The most abused in terms of false advertising is Dr. Willie Ong, particularly in food supplements.”
De Guzman said Ong’s face is usually used to promote food supplements in online markets “without his knowledge.”
Thus, he underscored the need for online marketplaces to be discerning in accepting sellers so they would not be a tool in deceptive marketing and fake selling.
“So, the regulation of the merchants within this platform, hopefully will be addressed by the Internet Transaction Act. Also, the advertisements where artists or celebrities use without their consent should be stopped,” he added.
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