As the National Capital Region gears up for a stricter two-week lockdown starting this Friday, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will postpone the issuance of a new list of suggested retail prices (SRPs) that would have raised by an average of 3 to 5 percent prices of some basic and prime commodities.
“Postpone. Definitely not during ECQ (enhanced community quarantine),” said Ramon Lopez, DTI secretary in a text message.
The DTI has approved requests of some manufacturers and was completing the review of others.
The new SRPs were scheduled for release this week.
Lopez has pegged the increase from 3 to 5 percent with some small items allowed a 10-percent hike but not higher than P1.
Those which have petitioned for a price increase are canned sardines, canned meat, instant noodles, coffee, milk and condiments.
The DTI said the price of tin cans went up by 60 percent while pet bottle packaging also increased by 37 percent. Prices of herring, used to make sardines, rose by 14 percent, meat by 10 percent and mechanically-deboned meat (MDM) by 87 percent.
Prevailing SRPs date back to September 2019. Irma Isip
