The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Negros Oriental has warned that violators of the price freeze on basic commodities may face up to PHP1 million in administrative fines and a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.
In an interview Friday, DTI-Negros Oriental spokesperson Krystle Jade Bato said they released a prize freeze bulletin on Thursday after having received a copy of Provincial Resolution No. 537 series of 2024 by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan declaring Negros Oriental under a state of calamity.
The declaration came amid rising damage and losses to crops and other agricultural products caused by the drought triggered by the El Niño phenomenon.
‘The 60-day price freeze of basic commodities will remain in effect until June 25, 2024 unless lifted sooner but can also be extended if the state of calamity will continue by then,’ Bato said.
She called on consumers to report retailers who are taking advantage of the situation by selling basic commodities higher than the prices specified by the DTI-Ne
gros Oriental.
DTI-Negros Oriental has already disseminated the list of prices of basic necessities to grocery stores and other business establishments.
Bato said their office regularly monitors 186 major business firms, even before the calamity, as a basis for price monitoring.
In key cities, such as this provincial capital, the monitoring is done weekly and the rest on a monthly basis, she added. (PNA
Source: Philippines News Agency