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Senate panel OKs DTI’s P10.6-B budget for 2025 in under an hour

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Katrina Domingo

ABS-CBN News

<p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">MANILA — The Department of Trade and Industry’s proposed P10.6-billion budget for 2025 has been approved on the committee level in the Senate in under hour on Tuesday.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Of the DTI’s P10.6-billion proposed fund, P6.4 billion is allocated to sustain the operations and programs of the Office of the Secretary, Assistant Secretary Kristian Ablan told the Senate Finance Committee.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Nearly P2 billion will be used for its attached corporations particularly the Aurora Pacific and Economic Zone Authority (APECO), the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), and the Small Business Corporation (SBC), he said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/9/20/no-price-increase-yet-in-basic-commodities-dti-1431">READ: No price hikes yet for basic commodities — DTI</a></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“The DTI has a 91 percent budget utilization for 2023… and as of June 30 [2024], we are already at 79 percent [utilization],” he said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“With our catch up plans, we will be able to utilize the budget that the Senate and the House has given us first the fiscal year 2024,” he said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">The DTI hopes to secure funding for the implementation of the Internet Transactions Act, said Mary Jean Pacheco, DTI’s undersecretary for e-commerce.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/7/22/dti-removes-some-basic-prime-commodities-from-srp-list-1535">READ: DTI removes some basic, prime commodities from SRP list</a><strong></strong><strong></strong><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><strong>FUNDING FOR E-COMMERCE BUREAU</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">The agency has requested for a P347.4 million budget to establish the E-Commerce Bureau, she said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“This would fund specific provisions in the law necessarily relative to the development of systems, and for the consumer complaints this would be very helpful,” she said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">The fund will also be used to hire 80 staff members for the E-Commerce Bureau, she said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Sen. Mark Villar, who authored the Internet Transactions Act (ITA), said he would help the DTI’s secure funding for its E-Commerce Bureau.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“Alam naman natin na napakahalaga  ng ITA dahil halos lahat ng transactions ngayon ay ginagawa online,” Villar said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">(We all know how important the ITA is because virtually all transactions now are done online)</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/13/dti-flags-uncertified-gadgets-sold-online-1447">READ: DTI flags uncertified gadgets sold online</a></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“Tutulong kami sa budget pero sana i-fast track ninyo yung implementation para ma-protreksyunan natin ang consumers,” he said, </p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">(We will help with the budget to fast-track implementation so you can protect consumers)</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Villar also urged the DTI to require online platforms to disclose the information of sellers, saying that would be &quot;critical&quot; to making the internet economy safer for consumers.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“Kailangan talaga natin protektahan yung mga consumers na bumibili online… Kailangan natin magkaroon ng database ng mga sellers,” he said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">(We really need to protect consumers who are buying things online... We need a database of sellers)</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">The DTI said it is working to “populate” its current system through a “data mining project.”</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lu6_OHjYVxE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Of the DTI’s P10.6-billion proposed fund, P6.4 billion is allocated to sustain the operations and programs of the Office of the Secretary, Assistant Secretary Kristian Ablan told the Senate Finance Committee.</p>

Of the DTI’s P10.6-billion proposed fund, P6.4 billion is allocated to sustain the operations and programs of the Office of the Secretary, Assistant Secretary Kristian Ablan told the Senate Finance Committee.