Prices of some basic goods to rise after mid-April

THE price of some basic goods could increase after April 16, the Department of Trade and Industry said after conducting a round of consultations with manufacturers.

“There is no price increase for basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPC) until April 16,” Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque said at a briefing on Tuesday.

Afterwards, “definitely, we can expect some price increase but not for all,” she added.

The consultations with BNPC manufacturers will resume after the Easter break, after which price advisories will be issued, she said.

Ms. Roque discouraged the practice of panic buying, saying the supply of basic goods is ample.

“Marami po tayong supply” (Supplies are adequate) she said. “The manufacturers have assured us that we have enough supply.”

Republic Act (RA) No. 7581 or the Price Act, as amended by RA 10623, classifies as basic necessities rice, corn, bread, fresh, dried and canned fish and other marine products, fresh pork, beef and poultry meat, fresh eggs, fresh and processed milk, fresh vegetables, root crops, coffee, sugar, cooking oil, salt, laundry soap, detergent, firewood, charcoal, candles, and drugs classified as essential by the Department of Health (DoH).

Prime commodities under the law include fresh fruit, flour, dried, processed and canned pork, beef, and poultry meat, dairy products not falling under basic necessities, noodles, onions, garlic, vinegar, patis, soy sauce, toilet soap, fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, poultry, swine and cattle feed, veterinary products for poultry, swine and cattle, paper, school supplies, nipa shingles, sawali (woven bamboo panels), cement, clinker, GI sheets, hollow blocks, plywood, plyboard, construction nails, batteries, electrical supplies, light bulbs, steel wire, and all drugs not classified as essential drugs by the DoH. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz