‘Tasty,’ pan de sal prices to go down

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Consumers can look forward to an early Christmas gift as prices of certain basic goods and prime commodities like bread and cement, will go down next month.

Trade Undersecretary Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba announced on Wednesday that the price of the generic Pinoy Tasty will go down by 50 centavos to P36.50 a loaf, while the price of Pinoy Pandesal will be reduced by 25 centavos to P22.25 per 10-piece pack. These price reductions will be effective Nov. 7.

“The price rollback is due to the decrease in the price of Harinang Pinoy in mid-October from P750 to P730 (per bag). The said flour is used as a primary ingredient in making Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal,” Dimagiba explained.

The trade official disclosed that they are studying whether it would still be possible to further reduce the prices of Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal by another 50 centavos and 25 centavos, respectively—on top of the scheduled price rollback on Nov. 7. This was due to the continued decline in the prices of the Harinang Pinoy.

Such reduction, if to be implemented, will further bring down the cost of Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal to P36 and P22, respectively.

Meanwhile, Dimagiba also disclosed that the ex-mill price of local flour had decreased by as much as P50 since March 2013, which meant that the retail price of this commodity should not exceed P900 per 25-kilogram bag.

However, a recent monitoring of prices and supply of flour bags in the cities of Manila, Muntinlupa, Pasig, Pasay, Caloocan, Malabon and Quezon showed that flour is being sold from P860 to P950 per bag.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has thus issued Show Cause Orders (SCOs) to these 15 retailers for selling flour above P900. These retailers have to explain within five days upon receipt of the SCOs to explain why they are selling flour at high prices. The agency is also set to write to the flour millers to request for explanation behind the high retail prices of their products.

For cement, Dimagiba said the price of this commodity has similarly decreased by P10 to P15 per 40-kg bag. Retailers were given two weeks to make the necessary adjustments, which meant that prices of cement should be within P215 to P220 a bag starting next month.

Over the next few weeks, the DTI will further intensify price monitoring activities for Noche Buena items due to the nearing holiday season, and construction supplies, in anticipation of increased infrastructure activities next year.