DTI to Ilocos folks: Buy local products, beware of hoax orders

By Anne Hazel Fajardo-Flores

SAN FERNANDO CITY -- The Dept. of Trade and Industry Ilocos urged residents to patronize the region’s local products.
    “We can show our love for our fellow Filipinos by purchasing quality local products because it will help our entrepreneurs cope with the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic,"  DTI-1 information officer Joyce Ann S. Sabado said. 
    She added patronizing locally made products will help the economy get back on its feet.
    Sabado said last holiday season, there were practical home-made products given as gifts.
    “Our agency has been providing different programs to help our fellowmen, and some of these include further training for start-up businesses and we also offer assistance by facilitating loans which can help augment the needs on additional capital of existing establishments,” she added.
    She said the pandemic shall not stop their agency from providing programs for entrepreneurship activities in the Ilocos Region.
    Various services of DTI are now available online and their clients could also check out from the agency's official Facebook and youtube accounts for updates of their programs.
    The agency shared tips on consumer care to avoid being victimized by fake or hoax orders.
    Consumers who are receiving orders from prank callers may follow some of these safety tips such as preserving call records in phones as proof of call made and documenting the facts by executing a sworn statement or affidavit supported by screenshots of dates and times when the calls were made.
    These instances must be reported to proper authorities to stop the unruly actions.
    “Bilang isang mamimili, kailangan din natin maging mapanuri at wais dahil hindi birong mapunta lamang sa wala ang inyong pinaghirapang pera lalo na sa panahon ngayon,” she said.
    DTI always encourages citizens to report unscrupulous acts of sellers so that proper interventions may be done. -- PIA-1