‘Tis the season to be jolly… or so it should be. Feeling the spirit of the season weighing down on your wallet? Well here’s a bit of good news that should cheer up consumers – Supermarkets have agreed to hold off price increases for basic and prime commodities at least until after Christmas, in response to the government’s call for them not to take advantage of consumers. “For the sake of those affected by the typhoons that hit our country, we will try to do our best to control increases until after Christmas,” Federico Ples, secretary-general of the Philippine Association of Supermarkets Inc. told Philstar.com. “We have already reduced our margin to only three percent to five percent net.” He said during the early part of November.
However, prices of basic commodities saw a slight increase during the latter part of the month. There was a 20-centavo to 50-centavo increase in prime commodities, said Baby Abatayo, senior trade and industry specialist of the Department of Trade and Industry in Central Visayas (DTI-7). Ed Alama, technical director of the Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas admitted that prices of agricultural products especially vegetables and crop products were expected to go up. Alama said some of the suppliers opt to sell their products to Luzon due to the higher demand there because of the Luzon areas that were affected by the typhoons.
On the other hand, Department of Trade and Industry assures that commodity prices for Christmas season will undergo strict monitoring. DTI-CAR Director Myrna Pablo said as of early November that there were no reported violations regarding price increase and fake products. However, DTI is not letting its guard down just yet.
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