About 13 manufacturers of basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPCs) have submitted petitions for price increases on 43 items – the most numerous so far since the start of the year – that cover canned sardines, canned meat, coffee, instant noodles, three variants of milk and toilet soaps, among others.
“We found out that there are more products that are adjusting their prices – that will be 43 out of 217 stock keeping units SKUs under the Suggested Retail Price Bulletin (SRP) of the DTI,” Trade Undersecretary for Consumer Protection Group Ruth Castelo said.
Price petitions for food products range from P0.10 to P7.27, or an increase of about one to 5 percent.
Petitions to increase the price of non-food items, on the other hand, range from six to 20 percent or about P1.50 to P9.75 per SKU.
“We do not readily approve their petitions. We still have to verify the data manufacturers provide us. Not only do we verify the information but we also assess the implication of the increases to the market and consumers,” Castelo said.
Most manufacturers have complained of higher costs of raw materials, particularly those sourced from overseas, Castelo said.
She said the DTI acknowledges that imported raw materials like skimmed milk for milk products, imported soft flour for noodles, mechanically deboned meat (MDM) for canned meat products, and iodine and potassium for iodized salt have been on the upswing in the international market.
She said the CPG is still assessing the merits of the petitions and that the February 2023 SRP Bulletin will remain in place until another is issued by the DTI.
Meanwhile, Castelo urged consumers to buy school supplies from established suppliers to ensure their quality.
Castelo said bookstores and the more formal sellers of school supplies are most reliable in enforcing the “Gabay sa Pamimili ng School Supplies” released by the DTI two weeks ago in anticipation of the school opening this month.
“We just want consumers to be guided accordingly to their product choices,” she said.
For his part, AGRI party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee urged the government to focus on interventions to curb food inflation after a survey revealed that more Filipino families had experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months.
The latest Social Weather Stations survey showed 10.4 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger – up from the previous 9.8 percent in March.
SWS defines involuntary hunger as being hungry and not having anything to eat.
SWS said the 10.4 percent hunger rate in June 2023 was the sum of 2.1 percent who experienced severe hunger and 8.3 percent who experienced moderate hunger.
Lee said the government must aggressively address factors contributing to food inflation or it will be unable to hit its 2.9 percent inflation target in 2024.
“Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed almost half, or 47.3 percent, to inflation. While the downward trend of overall inflation was primarily influenced by the slower increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.7 percent in June 2023, down from 7.4 percent in the previous month, we should be concerned that in terms of food groups, the inflation rates of rice and vegetables continue to rise,” he said.