CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Tueday that freeze on prices of basic goods has remained in effect in parts of Central Luzon which were battered recently by typhoons Pedring and Quiel.
The DTI said that price freeze remains in effect in Olongapo City, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Tarlac. Only Zambales is not in the list.
DTI regional information officer Wilfred Carbonell said that “under a state of calamity, an automatic price control is implemented as a preventive measure to avoid chaos that may result from overpricing of basic goods such as processed milk, canned goods, coffee, laundry soap, detergent, candles, bread and salt.”
“The prices of basic goods, excluding agricultural products, should remain in their pre-Pedring levels in the areas,” he said.
Carbonell added that “upon declaration of state calamity by the local government, a price control can be implemented for the duration of 60 days unless lifted sooner by either the local sanggunian or by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.”
He said, however, that local governments and provincial DTI offices can adjust prices to reflect additional operational costs or the transport costs of products to local markets.
But this, he said, would need the approval of either the National Price Coordinating Council or the President.
The adjusted prices must also be published in newspapers of national circulation.
Carbonell warned that violators of the prize free face a penalty for profiteering of up to P1 million or imprisonment of one to five years or both. If the case is hoarding, violators can face up to P2 million in fines or imprisonment of five to fifteen years or both.
