ILOILO City – Iloilo City Mayor Jose Espinosa III said he will confer with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regarding the reactivation of the Local Price Coordinating Council (LPCC).
“I will be getting advice from the DTI. We will take it under consideration,” said Espinosa in an interview.
At present, the city government is also monitoring prices to know the impact of the inflation on businesses, he said. Western Visayas, including Iloilo City, has one of the highest inflation rates in the country, pegged at 7.4 percent last month.
In a previous interview, DTI provincial director Diosdado Cadena Jr. said they had been reminding local government units to activate their LPCC, as he cited that most of such councils in Iloilo are not functional.
The LPCC is a body that works on policy recommendations to address trade problems, particularly the price and supply of commodities in the market.
“Under the law, the LPCC shall not only monitor but could even act on violations of the law, especially on prices,” Cadena explained.
The LPCC is chaired by the local chief executive and the DTI as its vice-chair and secretariat.
Its members are the Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Health, Department of Science and Technology, National Economic and Development Authority, Philippine Statistics Authority, the private sector and a consumers’ group. (PNA)
