PH should have law addressing e-commerce concerns — Mark Villar

Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship chairperson Sen. Mark Villar sponsors on Tuesday, February 7, 2023 Senate Bill No. 1846 or the proposed Internet Transactions Act. Senate PRIB photo / Bibo Nueva España

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines should have a law addressing e-commerce concerns, Senator Mark Villar said on Tuesday.

Villar sponsored Senate Bill No. 1846, or the Internet Transactions Act of 2022, under Committee Report No. 22 during the plenary session.

The Senate panel on trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship, which Villar chairs, filed the measure.

“Ako po’y naniniwala na ito po’y naaangkop at napapanahon. Dapat ay magkaroon tayo ng batas na magbibigay solusyon sa mga isyu at problema ukol sa industriya ng e-commerce,” he said.

(I believe that this is appropriate and timely. We should have a law that will give solutions to issues and problems regarding the industry of e-commerce.)

Villar said that the measure “seeks to promote the growth of e-commerce in the country by building mutual trust between online sellers and consumers and ensuring that all goods and services transacted digitally be in accordance with specifications and be reliable, secure, and accessible to all consumers for the purpose of increasing the productivity and efficiency of business.”

The neophyte senator noted that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., during the latter’s State of the Nation Address, said that an “effective regulation of commercial activities through the internet or electronic means” is needed to be established.

Villar said that there are almost 40,000 online consumer complaints from 2020 to 2022 or during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic wherein online transactions rose due to lockdowns.

Document: Senate Bill No. 1846  

JPV