INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry said on Tuesday that they will still continue monitoring prices of goods that will be removed from the suggested retail price (SRP) bulletin.
In an interview with Teleradyo, Undersecretary Amanda Marie Nograles clarified the concerns of consumers that prices of goods will increase amid removal of items in the pricing bulletin.
“Itong mga items na tatanggalin natin sa SRP bulletin, hindi ibig sabihin na hindi na imo-monitor ng DTI ang mga items na ‘yan,” said Nograles.
(The removal of these items from the SRP bulletin does not mean that DTI will not monitor these.)
READ: DTI to include unit costs in price bulletins
She also said that price monitoring will still be done by DTI even when other products are not posted on the regular bulletin.
“Trabaho pa rin ng DTI na tumanggap ng mga notice of price adjustments at pag-aaralan pa rin ‘yong justifications ng manufacturers dito at imo-monitor pa rin po ng DTI ang presyo ng mga bilihin na ito kahit wala sila sa SRP bulletin.”
(It’s still DTI’s job to receive notice of price adjustments and study justifications from manufacturers. DTI will still monitor the prices even if they are not in the SRP bulletin anymore.)
Manufacturers of goods not included in the list still need the greenlight from DTI before they can adjust their prices.
READ: Updated SRP list out in Q1 – DTI
Nograles explained that streamlining the list of SRP bulletins where basic goods such as sardines and coffee will be posted avoids confusion among consumers.
“Ano ba ang purpose ng SRP bulletin? Para ‘yan sa information and guidance ng mga consumer. Bilang gabay bago ka bumili pero ang nangyayari kasi, napakarami na nakalista doon na hindi pangkaraniwang binibili ng ating mga consumer so ang lumalabas, maraming nakalista. Napakaliit na no’ng lista, hindi na makita, hindi na ma-analyze ng consumers,” she added.
(What is the purpose of the SRP bulletin? It is for the information and guidance of consumers. As a guide for purchasing, but what happens is there’s a long list of non-ordinary goods. The consumers do not get to analyze long list anymore.)
In April, DTI planned to include unit costs in price bulletins as part of their effort to address “shrinkflation.” Shrinkflation is done by manufacturers by reducing the size or volume of the product to maintain prices amid production costs.