MANILA, Philippines ? The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), along with the Department of Agriculture and Department of Health, is drafting guidelines to protect consumers performing transactions online.

This was announced during an e-commerce forum organized by the DTI with the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, and the Philippine Internet Commerce Society last week.

The guidelines are being drafted in consultation with various stakeholders, according to Ma. Lourdes Yaptinchay, director of the Office of Policy Research and Alternative chairperson of the E-commerce Team of the Department of Trade and Industry, as she read the prepared speech of DTI undersecretary Thomas Aquino.

She did not give additional details about the guidelines, but she indicated that other agencies, including the DTI, have previously published similar guidelines to protect Filipino consumers.

In 2006, DTI issued Department Administrative Order No. 8 that prescribed "guidelines for the protection of personal data in information and communications system in the private sector," according to Yaptinchay.

Also that same year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the Philippine central bank), also issued BSP Circular No. 542, which provided guidelines for consumer protection for electronic banking in 2006, she said.

In 2007, the National Telecommunications Commission released its own consumer protection guidelines, which were later complemented by another directive requiring telecommunications companies to store data logs of traffic, Yaptinchay added.

Meanwhile, she said that DTI has become a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's (APEC) Electronic Commerce Steering Group (ECSG).

The group has been discussing e-commerce issues and concerns in the region, in particular data privacy with focus on cross-border rules, and paperless trading.

In February 2008, the Philippines has indicated its interest to join the APEC Data Privacy Pathfinder, a voluntary exercise involving the implementation of the nine APEC privacy principles.

The project also requires members to agree to cooperate in the development of a system for cross-border data flows for the protection of consumers, while encouraging e-commerce.

"However you look at it, the issue of privacy and security affects us all ? consumers, government and businesses alike. And with the global economy constantly changing and technologies emerging and converging, information is right at our fingertips, which, all the more, emphasizes the increasing importance of data privacy and security," she said.