House Independent Bloc leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on Saturday asked the Department of Trade and Industry to go after owners of business establishments who do not comply with the specified Suggested Retail Prices of various products covered by existing laws and regulations as the agency’s way of showing “malasakit” (compassion) to Filipino consumers.
Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association, said the DTI should be relentless in running after unscrupulous traders who might be taking advantage of the situation.
“The DTI should be relentless and always consistent on their monitoring as malasakit to our consumers. They should apprehend traders who might be profiting from the situation,” said Romualdez, a three-term congressman who is running for the Senate under a platform anchored on compassionate governance.
Romualdez, a shared senatorial candidate of Vice President Jejomar Binay and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who are both running for president and who has been endorsed by the 40-man Party-list Coalition Foundation Inc., said the DTI must consistently monitor the prices and immediately file charges against traders benefitting from unfair business practice.
“The government through DTI must find ways to justly and fairly reduce the prices of basic commodities at all times,” Romualdez said.
He said the DTI should check supermarkets, grocery stores, wet markets, and general merchandise stores to ensure their compliance with the specified SRPs for products classified under basic necessities and prime commodities of the Republic Act (RA) No. 7581 or the Price Act.
“Monitoring the prices of products under basic necessities and prime commodities will help ensure that supermarkets are conforming to the current SRPs,” Romualdez said.