Laban Konsyumer Inc., a consumer protection group, decided to intervene in the motu proprio petition filed by the Trade Department for a safeguard duty investigation on imported cement withou any application from local cement manufacturers.
Laban Konsyumer president Victorio Dimagiba said he was considering elevating the said action to the President and the Philippine Competition Commission.
The Bureau of Import Services received the letter of intervention on Sept. 27, 2018.
Dimagiba said cement importers could not commit to the demand of the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ projects and to private developers for long term supply contracts because of the pending petition for the imposition of safeguard duty.
The imposition of the safeguard duty is detrimental to the consumers and can create a shortage in the supply of cement that can derail private and infrastructure projects and increase retail prices, he said.