THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Saturday said it is no longer pursuing a drafted Department Administrative Order (DAO) requiring businesses to secure permits before releasing advertisements and sales promotions.
Under the DAO, businesses, including online sellers, were required to secure a permit before posting ads or promotions, with fees ranging from P975 to P9,294 per advertisement and a waiting period of up to 30 days.
“The Department of Trade and Industry clarifies that it is not pursuing, implementing, or adopting the drafted Department Administrative Order concerning a pre-clearance regulatory regime for advertising materials,” the agency said in a statement.
“The DTI assures the public and the business community that this internal draft does not reflect current policy direction and will not be finalized or enforced,” it added.
The DAO received criticism from Sen. Paolo Bengino Aquino 4th on Friday. He said this would burden micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and online sellers already “grappling with rising operational costs” and had earlier urged the DTI to reconsider the proposal.
“In this day and age where business is fast, especially online, it is unfair for businesses to wait for a month before they can issue advertisements or promotions,” he said.
Entrepreneur-adviser Carlo Ople posted on his Facebook profile on Friday that the proposal would set the country back by decades.
“This will be a massive burden to small businesses, start-ups, and online sellers. This will cripple the growth of the industry. This will set the digital economy of the Philippines back by years, possibly decades,” he said.
In a later post, Ople said he thanked Aquino and DTI Secretary Cristina Roque for backing down on the draft DAO, and that whoever proposed the order needs to be fired from the agency.
“And this is why it is important to voice our opinions. Because if we don’t raise hell about stupid policies, they will get passed and we will just suffer,” he said.
“Thank you to everyone who shared and joined the chorus of protest. And of course to Sen. Bam Aquino for championing the cause... Thank you also to Sec. Roque and DTI for backing down,” Ople added.
