SRP of rice, other commodities out on Monday

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is implementing on Monday suggested retail prices (SRPs) of eight commodities in Metro Manila, to arrest profiteering by some traders.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said stakeholders have agreed on the SRP of several commodities following consultations with various sectors.

“This will be applicable (in) Metro Manila initially. We have agreed that for the other regional markets, there will be another standard SRP, given that some commodities are more available in some markets (that) can result in lower prices,” Piñol said in a briefing yesterday.

For regular-milled rice, SRP is P39 per kilogram. For well-milled rice and other higher varieties, however, stakeholders agreed not to set an SRP.

SRP for milkfish is P150 per kg; tilapia, P100 per kg; and galunggong (mackerel), P140 per kg.

“These were suggested by the stakeholders in the fishing industry and was compared to the prices in the previous months,” Piñol said.

Other commodities that will be included in the SRP system are red onion for P95 per kg, white onion for P75 per kg, imported garlic P70 per kg and local garlic P120 per kg.

As for other major commodities like meat, poultry and vegetable products, Piñol said further consultations would have to be made with stakeholders in the coming weeks.

“Prices of these commodities are very unpredictable and volatile, especially with weather factors like typhoons. But we may add more commodities as we go along, depending on the movements,” Piñol said.

The DA chief clarified that the SRP will not be a constant figure. It will be adjusted at least every two weeks depending on market pricing conditions, he said.

“We will also be watchful of its effect on the farmers and fishermen because the SRP may be used to lower the buying price of (their) produce,” he said.

“What we want is to just avoid the abnormal movement of prices in the market. Retailers cannot adjust their prices by more than 10 percent.”

The DA will work closely with the Department of Trade and Industry in the monitoring of prices.

Meanwhile, the DA is pushing for the effective packaging of rice sold in the market to ensure food safety.

“The industry should move toward the packaging of commercial rice to ensure that there is proper labeling, identification and traceability,” Piñol said.

“This will be easy for consumers to identify the source of rice, the day it was milled and the kind of rice that was packed. These are part of the reforms that we will undertake to improve the rice industry in the country,” he added.

As this developed, the DTI has found 85 counts of pricing over SRPs, as part of its intensified product monitoring activities.

The agency, however, considered the cases as “minor violations,” noting that the actual prices of these products in stores were above SRPs by a few centavos.

The 85 counts were issued letters of inquiry (LOI) and 77 items were immediately corrected back to SRP levels.

The DTI said other accounts would be apprehended should they fail to respond and correct their pricing.

“Since the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, no LOI has ripened into a formal charge because the firms have immediately adjusted their prices to SRP.

These supermarkets and groceries have been compliant after receiving an LOI,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.

The agency has ramped up the number of establishments it monitors weekly from 400 to 600 in the National Capital Region following the directive of President Duterte to ensure that prices of basic necessities and prime commodities are within the SRP.

DTI said its monitoring teams now cover at least 120 firms a day.

At the same time, DTI regional and provincial offices also conduct regular monitoring of prices in the provinces covering 500 more stores.

Except for the mentioned cases of overpricing, the agency assured consumers that prices have remained stable based on its price monitoring.

“To be exact in the reporting, we have compared actual prices in June 11 to 15 versus (last) November, and not only the SRPs for basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPC).

Out of 101 stock keeping units (SKUs) in basic necessities covering canned sardines, milk, coffee, detergent bars, bread, instant noodles and bottled water, only four showed minimal price increase of one to seven percent,” Lopez said.

For prime commodities like canned meat products, condiments, bath soap and battery, only 13 out of 43 items posted increase from one to eight percent range, mostly in the canned meat category due to higher tinplate costs worldwide.

“We also compared SRPs during the two periods and there were SRP changes in 26 SKUs out of a total 144 SKUs for combined BNPC, but 11 of the 26 items kept the same actual prices despite changes in SRPs,” he said.

The DTI said administrative fine of up to P1 million is imposed on firms committing any illegal act of price manipulation, specifically profiteering. This offense may also result in criminal liability and penalty.

Meanwhile, the DTI chief reiterated that while he understands the plight of workers, the requests for wage hike will be left with the Regional Tripartite Wage Board RTWB. –  With Richmond Mercurio