STRICT enforcement of automatic price freezes in calamity-stricken areas and an aggressive crackdown on food cartels are indispensable steps to protect Filipinos as a strong El Niño threatens national food supply and prices, a senator warned.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, urged the Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), of Agriculture (DA), and of Health (DOH), and the National Price Coordinating Council to intensify market monitoring and enforce price controls to prevent illegal price increases.
‘No one should profit from the impending calamity through ways that deepen our people’s misery, especially the farmers and fishers, as well as consumers. In times of crisis, the public must be well protected from profiteering,’ Pangilinan said in Filipino.
Pangilinan highlighted Section 6 of Republic Act 7581 (The Price Act), as amended by Republic Act 10623, which mandates that prices of basic necessities in areas declared under a state of calamity are automatically frozen at prevailing rates unless otherwise declared by the President.
Under the law, an automatic price freeze remains in effect for the duration of the emergency, up to a maximum of 60 days. For basic necessities that are wholly imported and deregulated under existing laws-such as household liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene-the price control applies for up to 15 days, accounting for available inventory.
Beyond monitoring retail markets, Pangilinan pressed law enforcement authorities and implementing agencies to build strong legal cases against individuals and syndicates exploiting drought conditions to manipulate supply. Under Section 5 of the Price Act, hoarding, profiteering, and cartels involving basic commodities are strictly illegal.
‘I call on implementing agencies, local price councils, and law enforcement authorities to gather evidence and pursue criminal and administrative cases, where warranted, against those responsible for illegal price manipulation. Enforcement must not end with frontline sellers. We must target the very top,’ Pangilinan urged.
‘The people are demanding that profiteers be jailed,’ he added in Filipino. ‘If only small vendors are caught, the campaign means nothing. We should hold accountable the big traders and capitalists, as well as the brains behind syndicates involved in hoarding and price manipulation.’
Pangilinan reminded regulators and perpetrators of the severe legal penalties outlined in the Price Act:
Illegal Price Manipulation (Section 15): Carries a prison sentence of five to 15 years and fines ranging from P5,000 to P2 million.
Violating Price Freezes-Ceilings (Section 16): Punishable by one to 10 years imprisonment, a fine ranging from P5,000 to P1 million, or both.
He also warned corrupt government workers, citing Section 19 of the law. Public officials or employees who conspire in or knowingly conceal Price Act violations by reason of their office will be held principally responsible, facing criminal charges alongside permanent disqualification from holding public office, Pangilinan also said.