ILOILO City – A freeze in the prices of basic necessities is automatic in areas under a state of calamity, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
DTI Region 6 will make sure this is observed, said Director Rebecca Rascon following the moves of the provincial governments of Capiz and Aklan, the municipal governments of Carles and Balasan in Iloilo province, and the town of Pandan in Antique to declare a state of calamity due to the destruction left by typhoon “Ursula.”
What should be followed are the prevailing prices as of Nov. 24 – these are the suggested retail prices released by DTI on October 2019 – or a month before the typhoon struck, said Rascon.
Yesterday, DTI started deploying teams to monitor prices most especially in northern Iloilo and other parts of northern Panay and Negros islands.
The northern part of Western Visayas was under typhoon signal No. 3 from the night of Dec. 24 to the afternoon of Dec. 25.
Rascon said the price freeze may last for some 60 days maximum as stated in Republic Act (RA) 7581 or the Price Act.
By 5 p.m. on Dec. 25, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) lifted all typhoon signals in northern Iloilo.
In a bulletin issued at 5 p.m. yesterday, the state weather bureau announced that “Ursula” was already 300 kilometers northwest of Coron, Palawan, or 295 kilometers west southwest of Subic, Zambales.
The typhoon was still moving west northwest at 15 kilometers per hour (km/h). It maintained its strength, with maximum winds of 120 km/h and gustiness of up to 150 km/h going to the West Philippine Sea.
Under Section 6 (Automatic Price Control) of RA 7581, prices of basic necessities in an area shall automatically be frozen at their prevailing prices or placed under automatic price control whenever:
* that area is proclaimed or declared
a disaster area or under a state of calamity
* that area is declared under an emergency
* the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended in that area
* that area is placed under martial law
* that area is declared to be in a state of rebellion; or
* a state of war is declared in that area
Basic necessities identified under RA 7581 include rice, corn, bread, fresh, dried and canned fish and other marine products, fresh pork, beef and poultry meal, fresh eggs, fresh and processed milk, fresh vegetables, root crops, coffee, sugar, cooking oil, salt, laundry soap, detergents, firewood, charcoal, candles, and drugs classified as essential by the Department of Health.
Rascon said the DTI monitoring teams would also check if the supply of goods is sufficient in the typhoon-hit areas.
She warned traders not to take advantage of the difficult situation by manipulating prices (hoarding, profiteering, cartel). This is a violation of RA 7581, she stressed.
Hoarding is the undue accumulation of any basic commodity beyond the normal inventory levels, or the unreasonable limitation or refusal to dispose of, sell or distribute the stocks of any basic necessity or prime commodity to the general public, or the unjustified taking out of any basic necessity or prime commodity from the channels of reproduction, trade, commerce and industry.
Profiteering is the sale or offering for sale of any basic necessity or prime commodity at a price grossly in excess of its true worth.
On the other hand, a cartel is any combination of or agreement between two or more persons engaged in the production, manufacture, processing, storage, supply, distribution, marketing, sale or disposition of any basic necessity or prime commodity designed to artificially and unreasonably increase or manipulate its price.
Under Section 15 (Penalty for Acts of Illegal Price Manipulation) of RA 7581, a person who commits price manipulation shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment for a period of not less than five years nor more than 15 years, and shall be imposed a fine of not less than P5,000 nor more than P2 million./PN
