The Department of Trade and Industry said on Saturday that it has yet to observe any changes in the price of basic necessities in the market amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
Joel Buag, Assistant Division Chief of the DTI-FTEB Surveillance and Monitoring Division, explained that the department is expecting an eventual increase, noting that the hike in oil prices is going to affect the delivery of products.
“Like what Secretary Roque said in one of the hearings in the Senate last March 11, it is possible that we may see an increase because of the logistic concern,” he said.
“We know that when it comes to gasoline, it is used for deliveries of trucks and will be affected,” he added.
Buag said that the DTI saw no issues when it came to the cost of production for products, as the current issues affecting the country had minimal impact on these sectors compared to transportation.
In the event that the ongoing war extends and the price of goods does take a hit, he said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has the ability to conduct a price freeze if he decides to declare a state of national emergency.
The DTI officer said that vendors caught violating the threshold set for basic necessities during a price freeze would be issued a notice of violation and ordered to pay a fine of between P5,000 and P1 million.
Asked if the department would also be monitoring “sari-sari stores,” he said that the DTI was only concerned with supermarkets, as these were the places that dictated store prices in small convenience stores.