Palace uses ‘moral suasion’ to counter looming LPG price hike

Malacañang on Saturday used moral suasion on dealers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to dissuade them from raising prices of their products, at least for now. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte urged LPG dealers to follow the lead of major oil companies that said they would freeze prices of fuel products in flood-hit areas. “Siguro puwede tayong magkusa at sumunod sa iba na hindi nag-implement ng pagtaas ng presyo for this week, para maibsan ang epekto ng pagbaha sa Manila at karatig probinsya," Valte said on government-run dzRB radio. Earlier this week, major oil companies said they are freezing prices of fuel in selected areas affected by heavy monsoon rain and severe floods. On the other hand, Valte noted the Department of Energy had already said there is sufficient supply of LPG. “Walang kakulangan sa supply, sinabi yan ng DOE (There is no supply shortage. That is the DOE’s assessment),” she said. Palace frowns on hoarding, profiteering Valte also appealed to the public not to hoard basic commodities, lest this inadvertently create a perception of a shortage, and trigger an increase in prices. “Ang pakiusap, huwag tayo mag-hoard. Kung mag-hoard tayo, artificial ang perception na may kakulangan sa supply at dahil doon magtaasan ng presyo," she said. But she also warned vendors and retailers against deliberately jacking up their prices, saying information now spreads quickly through media and social networking sites. She said the Department of Trade and Industry will act on complaints of profiteering and visit the store concerned. “Mag-ingat kayo. Sa bilis ng information, baka nai-report na kayo sa DTI, at pupuntahan kayo ng mga kawani nito,"  she warned. — LBG, GMA News