DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry (DTI) secretary Alfredo Pascual said he does not see any shortage of school supplies in the country, despite vendors’ claims of having difficulty sourcing papers and notebooks to sell.
Pascual led an inspection around stores in Manila’s Divisoria area to check if sellers complied with his department’s Suggested Retail Price (SRP) list for school supplies.
Some store owners admitted that they raised prices due to various reasons, including a lack of supply of some products and an increase in the costs of raw materials.
Due to the supposed lack of supply, one store was seen selling a bundle of notebooks for P200, which was P10 more than last week’s price.
Prices of writing pads also increased by P10 to P180.
Store owner Erma Relecio advised buyers to purchase school supplies sooner as she sees a possible increase in prices again next week.
But Pascual said none of those he inspected had gone overboard.
Meanwhile, National bookstore President Adrian Ramos said his company had prepared for almost a year to make sure it had enough stock of back-to-school items.
But because of the high cost of raw materials and global supply issues, they also had to raise prices.
“We’ve been in an inflationary environment for two years, a year and a half. A lot of it was driven by ‘yung gulo sa ibang parts ng mundo. So a lot of raw materials for school supplies really started going up din — paper, wood, plastic is also driven by petrochemical prices,” Ramos said.
He added: “We try to do everything we can to contain that impact as much as possible or try to source other products na medyo papasok pa rin sa budget ng karamihan.”
Pascual called on consumers to refer to the DTI’s price guide to avoid overpriced school supplies.
“‘Pag lampas (sa price guide), ang first action ay hindi kaagad kaso. Kasi matagal ma-prosecute, alam niyo naman ang process sa litigation. Ang first action, avoid and look for another alternative store and check the price… Kung masyado mataas singil, pwede i-report sa DTI at gagawa na kami ng action,” said Pascual.
Classes in public schools across the Philippines will resume on Aug. 29. (ABS-CBN News)
