SLaM (Samahan Laban sa Monopolyo) advocates consumer rights against monopolies, thus it aims to convene and inform people and groups in people's forums and to form alliances to inform more people.
What we do
SLaM (Samahan Laban sa Monopolyo) aims to make people aware of their basic human freedom to choose and basic human right to choice. In an authentic free society, a free market provides people a choice and with it the freedom to make their choice.
SLaM is an active advocate of consumer rights and benefits, thus is against monopolies and its similar forms (e.g. cartel, group of companies, consortiums, conglomerates, etc.), particularly those engaged in public services and utilities.
SLaM convenes people and groups by organizing people's forums and informing them of the evils of monopolies in society, to the economy, and the general consumers. SLaM has a website, a blog site, and social network accounts in Facebook and Twitter that serve as repository of relevant information, news, comments, and reactions posted for and by interested people and groups.
SLaM seeks to form an alliance with people and groups, for them to echo these forums to their members or people in their locale. Should these lead to action together with other people and groups, SLaM would be in full support.
SLaM demands, for the sake of the people, the dismantling of monopolies that curtails or takes away the right of the people to choose.
SLaM envisions, for the sake of the people, the legislation of anti-monopoly laws that will protect and uphold public interest over corporate greed.
SlaM seeks, for the sake of the people, a government that can implement these anti-monopoly laws for the benefit of people.
Our Stand
Throughout various sectors of the Philippine economy today, a phenomenon is unfolding that many people notice but tend to ignore or dismiss as nothing but an inescapable fact of economic life.
One sees aspects of it happening in, for example, the retail sector, more specifically in the supermarket section of certain malls where products are routinely repacked, rebranded and resold at mall-set prices. The repacked items are marketed as more affordable alternatives but consumers cannot really be sure: the original supplier price is unknown and could be just as cheap or even cheaper, with the mall possibly marking up the retail price by a few more centavos or pesos.
It's an open secret that suppliers don't mind having their products repacked and rebranded for as long as they get guaranteed business and outlets for their products. The practice has a double negative effect: on consumers who are robbed of the right to choose products based on real prices and quality, and on small businesses who are boxed out of the mall supply chain on account of their not being able to abide by mall rules on supply exclusivity (“you can't supply us if you're also supplying our competitors”) or not having enough “rope” to cope with mall-imposed payment terms on their deliveries.
The phenomenon can also be observed in the bigger strategic sectors such as the airline and shipping industries where it has been long-established reality.
Read our Executive Summary
Read the full length position paper