Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual prefers an “open door” policy on goal setting, crafting of policies and settling consumer complaints.
“The DTI is open to dialog on consumer matters. Despite differences in opinions and positions, there is no need for adversarial approach. What we need is a collaborative approach when negotiating on specific matters that affect consumers, so we can establish a common ground,” Pascual says.
He says the DTI would also adopt a consensual approach on decision making to agree on solutions that will impact the economy and consumers, especially on the issue of prices.
Pascual believes that one of the biggest hurdles the incoming administration faces is the continued inflationary effect of world geo-politics.
He says while it is crucial to address basic problems such as the rising cost of goods and services in the first 100 days of the Marcos government, there is no easy cure for inflation especially when the origin of problem is an imported one.
“We have little control over that, especially on imported commodities. Instead, we can work harder to ensure that merchants and businesses will not charge profit more than what they need to. After all, profiteering is a crime,” Pascual says.
What the government can do to attain a certain level of food security, he says, is to be more creative and more innovative in sourcing of commodities that otherwise can be replaced or supplanted by alternatives with similar properties and purpose.
“For instance, while bakers are grunting about the high price of flour, due to high importation cost of wheat, there is a proposal to use coco flour for bread manufacturing. Bakers can add 10-percent coco flour to the mix, to lower down the cost of bread,” he says.
Pascual says the Philippines accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will also give the country access to global food sources, particularly during times of emergencies.
Under the new administration, the DTI may hatch a plan to draw up another possible economic support package for the micro, small and medium enterprises reeling from the effects of high crude oil prices and the soaring cost of raw materials.
Among the ongoing programs available for access by MSMEs are the credit support launched by Small Business Corp. of the DTI under the Bayanihan CARES program.
“We’d see whether a recovery package is in order. I have to look closely at the situation before deciding on this, but there are tools we can use. There is the provision for borrowing with government guarantee, and we have the institutions that provide guarantees to bank, so the banks can lend to small businesses. So, we have the instruments. It’s a matter of matching the need with the right instrument,” he says.
The DTI continues to be responsive to the plight of micro and small businesses, but it remains extra careful on deciding on calls for temporary suspension or reduction of the excise tax on imported raw materials.
The call, if heeded, will impact on government revenues, setting a declining trend and may affect the country’s annual budget. The healthcare, education and social services will be the first casualties if the proposed measure is adopted, the DTI says.
“If we decide to do this, there is a great deal of balancing needed to make this work. If we can encourage higher consumption, tax collection will be brisk but a lower rate. We can also employ short-term solutions if we see that there is really this big need to use palliative measures while prepping for medium to long-term solutions,” says Pascual.
The suspension of excise tax on fuel products is expected to lower the retail price of gasoline by 10 percent, 6 percent on diesel and 5 percent on kerosene.
Flour millers also sought the temporary deferment of duties on imported baking ingredients, which the government is carefully evaluating.
Among the priorities of the DTI under Pascual is the promotion of digital transformation. Technological advancements of industries will take center stage at the manufacturing sector and will be the basis of the sector’s industrialization.
Pascual is confident that consumers will see more efficient regulation and more effective developmental work at the DTI during his term.
“The way to approach digitalization is provide the consumers with the information to serve as basis for their decision, so that there will be no retailer or no seller that will take advantage of their lack of knowledge. This same technology will also give MSMEs access to e-platforms and make them part of the value chain,” he says.
Pascual says consumers need to decide what to buy and where to buy. With digitalization, the DTI provides advance information on suggested retail prices of practically any of the commodity being demanded in the local market.
The DTI will also continue to constantly monitor prices and the quality of products, as it is part of its mandate to ensure consumer satisfaction and protection.
Pascual, however, says he cannot commit that the DTI will be able to lower the prices of basic necessities and prime commodities as the Philippines is basically a market-based economy.
“We are not controlled-economy. We have democracy and freedom. That is what a market economy is about. We have the free play of demand and supply, we abide by this economic rule and so that issue of lowering the cost of goods will depend on market forces,” he says.
The new leadership is also bent on bringing in foreign direct investment as one of its key priorities, he says.
“Given that we need the capital to support economic growth and provide job creation in the country, we will try to give priority to investors that are in high0tech industries. For example, we see the growing need for data centers, specifically from the US to the Philippines. Since we are connected by fiber optic cables to important countries, then we could be a logical location,” Pascual says.