DTI Iloilo to distribute 110 weighing scales to LGUs

The Timbangan ng Bayan ready for distribution in public markets of local government units.  

In its campaign of keeping consumers on guard against unfair consumer-retailer practices, the government is providing calibrated mechanical hanging scale to all public markets nationwide, through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The DTI, in coordination with local government units (LGUs), is putting up Timbangan ng Bayan centers in public markets that will provide the buying public an effective means of checking the accuracy of the weight and quantity of the goods they are buying.

DTI Iloilo OIC-Provincial Director Engr. Diosdado P. Cadena Jr. said the initiative will strengthen and address the lingering concern to ensure consumer protection “by providing reliable accurate weighing scales in the public market.”

He said the project is implemented nationwide, with every DTI Office executing a Memorandum of Agreement with the LGUs. The DTI will distribute two sets of equipment for each public market, while the LGU shall provide space and manage the center.

The DTI Iloilo Provincial Office is set to distribute 110 Timbangan ng Bayan – a set of a weighing scale and a metal enclosure – in 42 municipalities in the Province of Iloilo and the cities of Passi and Iloilo.

Under the Agreement, Cadena emphasized, the local government unit shall identify where to put the facility “in conformity” with the DTI. The Timbangan ng Bayan must be permanently established and shall noticeable to the buying public, he added.

DTI OIC-Regional Director Rebecca M. Rascon said that this project would likewise discourage vendors to shortchange the weight and quantity of goods sold to the buying public. This project is in accordance to the Consumer Act of the Philippines or R.A. 7394.