The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) yesterday assured the public of sufficient supply food as well as of personal hygiene and disinfectant products amid panic buying of consumers.
This is in the wake of the rising number of persons afflicted with the coronavirus disease 2019 that prompted the declaration of a public health emergency last Monday.
The National Food Authority (NFA) yesterday said there is sufficient rice inventory in the National Capital Region in case of emergency situation or even possible lockdown due to COVID-19.
DA S Secretary William Dar said the agency will craft an action plan on food availability and supply for Metro Manila initially, and the whole country, eventually.
Judy Carol Dansal, NFA’s administrator said in a statement, Metro Manila has 455,000 bags of rice, good for 40 days, at 10 percent market participation.
Dansal said some 2 million bags equivalent to 111,206 metric tons (MT) of rice is being transported to NCR from nearby rice-producing regions: 311,920 bags (15,596 MT) from Ilocos; 1,000,000 bags (50,000 MT) from Cagayan; and 912,200 bags (45,610 MT) from Central Luzon.
The total government rice stocks is 9.636 million bags or 481,800 MT, equivalent to 14.5-day rice consumption requirement of the whole country at 661,930 bags.
Supermarket chains, upon the advice of the DTI, are limiting the volume of sales to consumers of personal hygiene items like alcohol to two to three bottlers per customer as well as disinfectant products.
Supermarkets are also stocking up on these items to quell consumers’ fears of a shortage while observing the price freeze automatically imposed following the declaration of a state of public health emergency last Monday.
Steven Cua, president of the Philippine Amalgamated Groceries and Supermarkets Association (PAGASA) in a notice to the group’s members said if prices of products have to increase because of the cost of sourcing from another supplier or due to carrying another brand, supermarkets and groceries can minimize the negative impact on clients by applying the same margins normally applied during times when buying habits of customers were more stable.
Ruth Castelo, DTI undersecretary, said while the country has enough supply , the agency has encouraged retailers to stock up for a few days to minimize risk of contamination by frequently going to the store.
Castelo also said the DTI is set to conduct this week inspection of supermarkets and groceries.
Cua told PAGASA members in the notice to be wary of wholesale customers who buy in bulk of these scarce products in order to sell, give away as charity (esp. face masks during the recent Taal explosion) or distribute to colleagues at work or residence (like in subdivisions/condos/townhouses/communities).
Wholesale purchases, he said, can be done through the manufacturers or distributors which carry these items in more volume.
“We turn (bulk buyers) away politely, “ he said, adding that supply in supermarkets is good only for individual end-users.
This is also one way of warding off unscrupulous individuals from taking advantage of the situation by buying products in bulk and reselling them at higher prices.
Bulk buyers, he said, can wipe out the supplies of smaller retail outlets
Cua admitted that while panic buying may result in increased sales over a short period of time or while supplies last, this also results in inflation and bites the buying public when goods ran out of regular supply and is replenished at a higher cost. In the end, consumers will have to pay more for future purchases.
In the notice, Cua encouraged PAGASA members to come up ways to ensure there are enough personal and household cleaning supplies.
One is by ordering enough supplies and more often and in big quantities as suppliers may allow.
Cua said if suppliers fail to deliver purchase orders, supermarkets should scout for supplies elsewhere, like what was done in the case of face masks, at the cheapest possible price to benefit customers.
“ Let us creatively source for other brands of supplies (e.g., like rubbing alcohol) when our regular suppliers cannot deliver to us the purchase volumes we are demanding from them,” he said. (J. Macapagal and I. Isip)
