Over 100 modified PUV routes to open • MMDA to man school areas
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) released Friday the revised suggested retail prices for basic school supplies in time for school opening on August 22.
Trade secretary Alfredo Pascual said the SRP aims to provide guidance to consumers on the proper price range for school supplies and to deter sellers from overpricing now that the academic school year is just around the corner.
“We provided specific details on the make and quality of school products. They can check on the website how we managed to classify the products and the suggested pricing for each category,” he said.
There are about 159 stock keeping units ( SKUs) from 15 categories of school supplies ranging from rulers, sharpeners, crayons, ballpens and pencils to writing, pads and 4 categories of notebooks.
For Mongol products, price adjustments were to take effect on September 1, 2023 and October 1, 2022. Among the products with upward price adjustments are pencil trio #2 (P10.67), pencil XL #2 (P16.33), junior sharpener (P22), regular pencils (P10.67) and pencil trio XL #2 (P16.33.
This is the first time in two years that the DTI released a price guide for school supplies since in-person classes were temporarily suspended during the previous two academic years due to the pandemic.
For writing notebooks with 80 sleeves, the highest priced item was Orions with character design and plastic cover for Visayas and Mindanao, far north in Luzon, and Mimaropa regions at P34.75.
For yarn-bound notebooks, the highest priced was Seven Notes with assorted design at P27.75.
For ballpens, per piece, the highest priced was Artline (black or blue) at P19 while for the 3 pcs. promo pack, it was Avanti Click (black, blue or red) for Visayas and Mindanao, far north in Luzon, and Mimaropa regions at P32.
Meanwhile, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairperson Cheloy Garafil said that the board will open more than 100 “modified” routes Aug. 22 “to address the need for more buses and vehicles for the face-to-face classes.”
“These routes to be opened include jeepney and UV express,” she said.
The routes that will be opened are near the University Belt and other schools, she said.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority warned the volume of vehicles along EDSA could balloon up to 436,000 as limited face-to-face classes open in two weeks’ time.
MMDATask Force Special Operations chief Bong Nebrija said they will deploy 581 personnel in roads leading to and near public schools.
“We will be manning schools—about 146 public schools in Metro Manila. Aside from that, we will be manning the intersections and the pedestrian lanes,” he said.
The MMDA is also conducting misting, fogging, and clearing operations around schools.
