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Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque has delegated her powers under the Internet Transactions Act to the supervising head of the Fair Trade Group
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Under Department of Trade and Industry Memorandum Circular No. 2025-04, the FTG supervising head and the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau director are the ITA primary and alternate signatories vice the trade secretary
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DTI assistant secretary Atty. Agaton Teodoro Uvero is the FTG supervising head while Atty. Regino Mallari is FTEB director
Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque has delegated her powers under the Internet Transactions Act (ITA) and its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) to the supervising head of the Fair Trade Group (FTG).
Under Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2025-04 signed on April 8, the powers of the DTI secretary provided under Republic Act (RA) No. 11967 (ITA) and its IRR, have been delegated to the FTG supervising head as primary signatory and Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB) bureau director as alternate signatory.
DTI assistant secretary Atty. Agaton Teodoro Uvero is currently the FTG supervising head while Atty. Regino Mallari is FTEB director.
RA 11967, or An Act Protecting Consumers and Merchants Engaged in Internet Transactions, creating for this purpose the Electronic Commerce Bureau (ECD), was signed into law in December 2023. It aims to boost and safeguard e-commerce transactions in the country.
The ITA grants DTI regulatory jurisdiction over the use of the internet for conducting e-commerce by e-marketplaces, online merchants, e-retailers, digital platforms, and third-party platforms.
Chapter III of the law empowers the DTI secretary to issue summons, subpoena, compliance order, takedown order, and blacklist order against any person found in violation of the ITA or its IRR, or any other applicable laws or rules and regulations.
According to the MC, it is necessary to delegate these powers to the relevant functional group or bureaus “for the efficient, effective and expedient implementation of the ITA.”
The MC noted that FTEB, which is under FTG, is the chief regulatory and quasi-judicial arm of DTI and is mandated to ensure compliance of the business sector with trade and industry laws and standards. It is also required to conduct market surveillance and enforcement to ensure compliance with trade and industry laws.
The ITA mandates DTI through the ECD to create an online business database that will provide government and consumers access to information of businesses selling online. The ECD should also encourage the establishment of an e-commerce trust mark in close collaboration with the private sector and maintain a government-wide online consumer complaint tracking system that will be actively monitored by the DTI.
RA 11967 also sets the regulatory jurisdiction of DTI over internet transactions and provides it with powers and authority to issue compliance orders against violators, subpoena, the take down order of websites, including the blacklisting of online businesses. Liabilities of online merchants, e-retailers, e-marketplaces and digital platforms were also set, including penalties for violators.
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