Trade dep’t says not many requests to adjust SRP following Ukraine invasion

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it has not received many requests to raise prices of goods subject to the suggested retail price (SRP) scheme in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“Sa ngayon, because we have not received a lot of requests naman… may isa lang that we received after the Ukraine-Russia conflict, hindi pa natin nakikita na mag-a-adjust tayo ng presyo sa ngayon (We have received only one request to raise prices after the Ukraine-Russia conflict, so there is reason to adjust prices as yet). We’ll communicate also with the manufacturers na medyo hinay-hinay lang din sa pag-request dahil kailangan nating magtulong-tulong (We have also told manufacturers to ease of price increase requests because we need to help each other),” Trade Undersecretary Ruth B. Castelo said in a Laging Handa briefing on Monday.

“We calibrate talaga ’yung releases ng SRP bulletin kasi ’pag nag-publish tayo ng panibago, ibig sabihin i-increase ang presyo. Bihira ’yung nangyayari na nag-adjust tayo ng bulletin dahil binaba ng manufacturers ang presyo (We try to calibrate SRP bulletin releases because every time they come out, prices will rise. It almost never happens that price caps need to be adjusted because manufacturers are charging less)” she added.

Ms. Castelo said surging fuel prices should not affect the prices because much of the current goods inventories and fuel products were manufactured or ordered before the war broke out.

“Hindi po ’yan immediate. Hindi pa ’yan sa ngayon. We’re looking at the next three months bago mag-epekto ’yung nangyayari sa Europe dito sa ating bansa. We have enough supply. Hindi kailangan mag-panic ng mga tao (Price reactions should not be immediate. We’re looking at the next three months before the impact of the war in Europe shows up here. We have enough supply. There is no need to panic),” she added.

On Jan. 27, the DTI released a new SRP list for basic and prime commodities. Under the new SRP list, 73 stock keeping units (SKUs) out of 216 SKUs recorded price increases. Some of the products whose SRPs rose were bottled water, processed canned meat and canned beef, instant noodles, salt, and canned sardines. According to the DTI, the increase was caused by the surge in the global prices of raw materials and packaging used for the products. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave