The dangers posed by these pernicious commodities and commodifiers are highlighted this October, which the nation is enjoined by the Department of Trade and Industry to celebrate as Consumer Welfare Month.

A worthy reminder in view of Article XVI, Section 9 of the Constitution: "The State shall protect consumers from trade malpractices and from substandard or hazardous products." Also, Section 11 (2): "The advertising industry is impressed with public interest, and shall be regulated by law for the protection of consumers and the promotion of the general welfare."

To give teeth to the fundamental law, the Philippines passed on April 13, 1992 R.A. 7394, which states that it is the duty of the State to "protect the public against unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products." [Chapter 1, Article 5] The law, a.k.a. Consumer Act of the Philippines, enshrines, among others, the value of consumer participation: "The Departments (of the National Government) shall establish procedures for meaningful participation by consumers or consumer organizations in the development and review of department rules, policies and programs." [Article 156]

The constitutionalization of consumer protection was a long and hard struggle. It is a crusade that cannot be de-linked from unionism, the advance of Western liberal democracy and social progress.

"Cultural and intellectual historians argue that consumer society arose in Europe between the 1400s and 1700s. During this period, members of the bourgeoisie became interested in their relationship with the material world. In contrast, social historians view the late 19th century as the pivotal moment in the formation of consumer society. For these scholars, consumer societies only emerge when all of a particular society’s members ¯ aristocratic, bourgeois, and working class ¯ enter the marketplace as consumers. Until the 19th century, only the aristocracy and bourgeoisie possessed the wealth necessary to consume goods. By the latter half of that century, capitalists in western Europe and North America began engaging in manufacturing activities; as well, large numbers of people inhabiting western Europe and North America became wage earners. These developments caused inexpensive goods to appear for sale on the market; they also provided working people with the cash necessary to spend on such goods. Since that moment, consumption has been integral to many working people’s actions." [Donica Belisle, "Toward a Canadian Consumer History," Labour/Le Travail, Fall 2003, www.historycooperative.org/journals/llt/52/belisle.html, October 3, 2008]

Suffragettes and labor unions had already bannered general welfare in the 1920s, but the Filipino consumerists trace their beginnings to the Kilusan ng mga Mamimiling Pilipino (KMPI), which was organized in 1971 in order to guide public opinion regarding the diversity of goods in the bewildering market. At that time, consumerists were associated with middle-class housewives who tested truth in adverstising by measuring rolls of toilet paper.

Nevertheless, KMPI was determined to champion consumer sovereignty even in the dark years of martial law, raising more issues like No to Nukes and the Central Bank’s alleged overstatement of a 600 billion-peso gold reserve. By the late Seventies, KMPI was joined by the Church-Based Consumer Movement and the Citizens Alliance for Consumer Protection.

Their ranks were bolstered in the 1980s by single-issue alliances (Stop VAT Coaliton), economic advocacies (Freedom from Debt Coalition), and special groups (Pilipino Laban sa Daya sa Telepono).

Filipino efforts were part of a worldwide trend. The UN Economic and Social Council in August 1977 instructed the UN Secretary-General to survey existing laws on consumer protection at the national level. On December 17, 1982, Resolution 37/137 mandated the UN Secretariat to prepare a "Consolidated list of banned, withdrawn and restricted products." The General Assembly unanimously adopted on April 9, 1985 the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection. This document has been considered as a "World Consumer Rights Charter."

The United Nations Guidelines, it has been hoped, would serve as a shield against what is described by the Consumer Interpol and the IOCU as "the corporate crime of the century": The unchecked dumping of unsafe products.

This "crime" is aggravated by a regime of import liberalization. "The propensity to consume imported items will drain foreign exchange reserves. This will be made worse by the continued weakening of the peso. When dollars are scarce, and therefore expensive, prices to the consumers will necessarily have to increase – without the resulting efficiency of local industries our economic planners are hoping to achieve." [Jake Macasaet, "How to kill the fruit industry," Malaya, May 23, 1988]

In this situation, consumers who are citizens can assert their freedom of choice in better fashion by studying the trends of the past, the present and the future. They can heed the counsel provided by a scholar of the so-called consumer republic.