ALL manufacturers of basic necessities and prime commodities have agreed to hold prices until the end of the year, according to Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina A. Roque.
‘There is no price increase for Basic Necessities and Prime commodities until the end of the year. All manufacturers have agreed to this,’ Roque said in a Viber message on Tuesday.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) called upon manufacturers’ help to maintain the current prices at least until the end of the year.
To ensure price stability, the Trade department said it ‘intensifies’ regular market monitoring and enforcement activities nationwide through its Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau and regional and provincial offices to prevent overpricing, profiteering, and supply disruptions.
The country’s trade chief made the pronouncement after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ordered the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to keep the prices of essential goods stable particularly during the holiday season when ‘demand traditionally increases.’
At a press briefing on Monday, Claire Castro, Undersecretary of Presidential Communications Office, said the president has ordered the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to ensure that there will be no movement in the prices of basic goods during the holiday season.
‘Following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s directive not to hike prices of basic goods before the holiday season, the DTI has announced there won’t be any price increase on basic and prime commodities until the end of the Christmas season,’ Castro said, speaking partly in Filipino.
According to Castro, Marcos wanted DTI to ensure strict monitoring and implementation of maximum suggested retail price for imported rice especially for prices of food.
At the Federation of Philippine Industries, Inc.’s (FPI) Business Summit held early this month, Roque said: ‘We hope to have a no price increase for basic necessities and prime commodities so for the big industries, we hope that there won’t be any clamor for salary increase.’
Roque said she is ‘starting to talk to a lot of those that are in the business of basic necessities and prime commodities.’
‘We haven’t had any price increase for more than a year, which is actually.it’s never happened before,’ the country’s Trade chief said, adding that this may be due to the ‘good communication’ between the DTI and the manufacturing sector in the country.
If the agency decides to clear increases in prices of basic necessities and prime commodities, ‘Definitely a next question will be the salary increase,’ she pointed out.
Roque said during the summit early this month that the country ‘cannot afford any more salary increase because when the salary increases, then everything goes up.’