The Philippine government has strengthened its monitoring on the prices of basic necessities and prime commodities to prevent speculation amid oil price hikes, senior government official said on Thursday.
Trade and Industry Consumer Welfare Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said that aside from the regular price monitoring of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the agency also deploys additional employees from its regional and provincial offices and head offices to survey markets nationwide, to monitor and regulate the prices of basic goods.
"With this nationwide market monitoring, DTI would be able to cover more markets and get a bigger picture of the current commodity price situation in the country. DTI also heightens its market visibility so as to avert unscrupulous businesses from unreasonably raising prices amidst the looming oil price hike," she said.
She explained that the prices hikes of petroleum products has minimal effect in the costs of basic and prime goods, but there are other cost factors to be considered such as price of raw materials, supply and demand situation, seasonality of products, among others.
The DTI has also coordinated with the Local Government Units ( LGUs) to assist in monitoring prices of basic goods in their respective areas given that they have the authority to suspend and cancel business permits of erring markets and stores, she added./.