The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has started monitoring food prices and urged manufacturers and retailers of Noche Buena or Christmas Eve food items to maintain their current prices for the upcoming Christmas season.

On Thursday, during the Laging Handa public briefing, DTI Consumer Protection Group Undersecretary Ruth Castelo tried to call on food makers to hold back the increase of Christmas products to ease the additional burden brought by the pandemic for Filipinos.

“We call on manufacturers not to increase prices for Christmas products this year or if they need to increase, just at the absolute minimum price,” Castelo said in Filipino.

The DTI cited that last year was a success for them to convince manufacturers not to increase prices for Noche Buena food packs. “This year, we will try to convince them not to adjust prices again,” she added.

The trade department is said to release the suggested retail price (SRP) for Christmas products by the end of October to early November. The department published the latest SRP list for basic commodities last August 29.

As of writing, 76 out of 216 items have increased their prices from PHP .20 to PHP 1 including canned goods, instant noodles, condiments, coffee, milk, and other non-food items like soaps.

The price hike was only granted because of the increased cost of raw materials (like packaging materials) to be considered for manufacturers.

Moreover, Castelo said the request of manufacturers for additional prices in basic commodities has been rejected since 2019 due to the pandemic.

Watch the full Laging Handa interview here:

Source: https://pcoo.gov.ph/press-briefing/public-briefing-laginghandaph-hosted-by-presidential-communications-operations-office-secretary-martin-andanar-and-pcoo-undersecretary-rocky-ignacio-147/