DTI set to approve price hike petitions of manufacturers

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to approve several price hike petitions of manufacturers given the higher costs of raw materials, a top official announced Wednesday.

According to Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo, the DTI is now finalizing studies on a number of price hike petitions it received from manufacturers.

“Meron pong mga made-deny, meron din pong mga aaprubahan, depende po kasi sa presyo ng raw materials nila that are mostly imported,” she said during a public briefing.

(There are some [petitions] that will be denied, but there will be some that will be approved depending on the prices of their raw materials that are mostly imported.)

“Dahil tumaas rin ‘yung presyo ng raw materials in the international market, kasama ‘yung logistics or distribution costs nila pagdating dito, mayroon pong mga mapapayagan bahagya na pagtaas, at mayroon din pong mga hindi mapapayagan,” she added.

(Because of the higher prices of raw materials in the international market including logistics or distribution costs, there will be slight price hikes approved, and there will also be those denied.)

Castelo did not elaborate on the products expected to be covered by the price hikes, but said that among those they are studying are for canned goods, instant noodles, coffee, milk, and bread.

She noted, however, that while a new suggested retail price (SRP) has yet to be released, the latest bulletin released on May 11 is still in effect covering groceries and supermarkets.

Castelo in the same briefing noted that prices of basic goods in several areas were automatically covered by a price freeze due to the declaration of a state of calamity.

The areas include Abra due to the recent earthquake covering prices until September 26, and Datu Montawal in Maguindanao due to the floods covering prices until September 16.

“Ang presyo po sinisigurado natin na naka-freeze siya or frozen at the prevailing price na computed natin for the last three months,” Castelo said.

[We make sure that prices are frozen at the prevailing price that we computed for the last three months.] —KG, GMA News