TARLAC CITY – Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Central Luzon reminded the public to avoid profiteering and hoarding amid hike in fuel prices.
Republic Act 7581, otherwise known as the Price Act of the Philippines, provides protection to consumers by stabilizing the prices of basic necessities and prime commodities and by prescribing measures against undue price increases during emergency situations and like occasions.
DTI Regional Director Leonila Baluyut said they have teams tasked to monitor establishments on their compliance to the law.
“We have monitoring teams from the provinces and the regional office to closely monitor prices of basic necessities and prime commodities to prevent profiteering to take place especially now with the price of fuel increasing,” the official disclosed.
Profiteering occurs when a retailer or wholesaler offer any product for sale in excess to its true worth.
There also arises a presumption of profiteering whenever a product does not have a price tag, misrepresented as to its weight or measurement, or whenever a retailer or wholesaler raises the price of a product more than 10 percent of its price in the immediately preceding month.
“We follow a certain process before we say that a retailer or a wholesaler for that matter practices profiteering,” Baluyut explained.
Meanwhile, hoarding happens when there is an undue accumulation by a person or combination of persons of any basic commodity beyond his or her normal inventory levels or refusal to dispose of, sell, or distribute these products.
Baluyut assured that price monitoring is done on a weekly basis to prevent these potential problems for the protection of consumers.
DTI conducted 561 basic necessity and prime commodity monitoring activities from January to June 2022 in a total of 695 establishments all over the region yielding 100% compliance rate. (CLJD/GLSB-PIA 3)
