Muntinlupa, San Juan shops sell ‘unsafe’ Christmas lights

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has seized 685 sets of substandard Christmas lights from two popular shopping malls in San Juan and Muntinlupa City.

“We conducted this standard enforcement activity to ensure that the Christmas lights sold in the market are certified by our Bureau of Product Standards and are safe to use,” Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba, officer in charge of the DTI Consumer Welfare and Business Regulation Group, said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the DTI, an enforcement team seized about 600 boxes of Christmas lights from five stalls at the Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City and 85 light sets from a store at Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

The brand names of the confiscated products were Northstar LED light, Seven Star, Mabuhay Star, AIO Decorative Light, Lucky Bright LED, Star 120 Icicle Lights and Merry Christmas.

The DTI team also issued notices of violation to six stores found selling Christmas lights without the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) sticker or bore the old sticker.

“We issued notices of violation to the apprehended store owners and told them to explain within 48 hours or else we will [ask them to pay] administrative fines,” Dimagiba said.

At the same time, he asked the management of the two shopping centers to ensure that their vendors sell only certified Christmas lights.

The DTI, meanwhile, reiterated its warning to the public to buy only certified Christmas lights with ICC stickers to ensure that these passed safety tests.