Prices of listed items rose as high as 113 percent

Prices of SRP-listed goods rise as high as 133 percent
By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
Prices of ba­sic ne­ces­si­ties and prime com­modi­ties (BNPC) listed un­der the ex­panded SRP (sug­gested re­tail prices) have in­creased by an un­con­scionable 133 per­cent, ac­cord­ing to a study by a con­sumer ad­vo­cacy group.
Us­ing data from the Depart­ment of Trade and In­dus­try (DTI), the La­ban Kon­syumer, Inc. (LKI) study showed that SRP prices rose be­tween 70 per­cent to as much as 113 per­cent as of July 16 this year.
Lawyer Vic­to­rio A. Dimag­iba, LKI pres­i­dent, noted that DTI has ex­panded the SRP list as of July 16 from 132 to 211 items of ba­sic ne­ces­si­ties and prime com­modi­ties.
Lawyer Vic­to­rio A. Dimag­iba, LKI pres­i­dent, noted that DTI has ex­panded the SRP list as of July 16 from 132 to 211 items of ba­sic ne­ces­si­ties and prime com­modi­ties.
These in­clude canned sar­dines, pro­cessed milk, cof­fee re­fill, bread, in­stant noo­dles, iodized salt, de­ter­gent and laun­dry soap, bot­tled wa­ter, can­dles, canned meat, condi­ments, toi­let soap and bat­ter­ies.
Com­put­ing from the old SRP list of 132 items, the study said that only 93 items had in­creased prices since Jan­uary to date. This trans­lates to 70 per­cent of the goods in­creased prices.
But us­ing the new de­nom­i­na­tor in 211 items in the ex­panded SRP, that would be 44 per­cent in­crease.
Ex­clud­ing the 17 items of bot­tled wa­ter and 28 items of can­dles, that?s an un­con­scionable 113 per­cent price in­crease in the listed items.
Ex­clud­ing the 17 items of bot­tled wa­ter and 28 items of can­dles, that?s an un­con­scionable 113 per­cent price in­crease in the listed items.
The top items in price in­creases are canned sar­dines: 15 brands: pro­cessed milk: 22 brands; canned meat: 24 brands; and condi­ments: 16 brands. There were no price in­creases for bread, un­der the Pi­noy Tasty and Pi­noy Pan­desal brands but there was no data on the pre­mium and branded breads, which should have been added in the ex­panded SRP.
There were also no in­creases for in­stant noo­dles and bot­tled wa­ter.
The LKI study fur­ther noted that the per­cent­age in­creases range from 2 per­cent all the way up to 11 per­cent, or 10.25 to 11.95 per piece.
Six brands of canned meat and condi­ments had in­creased twice this year.
For the month of July alone, LKI said that 3 brands of sar­dines had in­creased prices. Un­der the Ex­panded SRP, 4 brands of condi­ments had price in­creases.
This is too high for the poor con­sumers.
The group ear­lier pro­posed to the DTI the im­ple­men­ta­tion of a mora­to­rium on any price in­creases on items listed in the SRP un­til the end of the first quar­ter of 2019.
?In 2 weeks? time, as we en­ter the ?Ber? months, this is where pres­sure on demand and sup­ply of ba­sic ne­ces­si­ties and prime com­modi­ties can trig­ger an­other round of price in­creases,? said Dimag­iba.
The group also pro­posed dis­cour­ag­ing the use of easy open lid for canned prod­ucts, as this will trans­late to a sav­ings of a min­i­mum 50 cen­tavos per can. A can of pre­mium sar­dines has a listed SRP of 116.00 per can while the same item but with easy open lid has a listed SRP of P16.50 per can.
The group also pro­posed dis­cour­ag­ing the use of easy open lid for canned prod­ucts, as this will trans­late to a sav­ings of a min­i­mum 50 cen­tavos per can. A can of pre­mium sar­dines has a listed SRP of 116.00 per can while the same item but with easy open lid has a listed SRP of P16.50 per can.
Dimag­iba con­tin­ued that ?to­gether with NFA, they should start the im­ple­men­ta­tion of the 10% dis­count of NFA rice to the 50 per­cent poor of the pop­u­la­tion up to 20 ki­los per month, one of the un­ful­filled mit­i­gat­ing mea­sures as per ex­press pro­vi­sion of the TRAIN law?.
Dimag­iba added that with the Depart­ment of Health, and Bu­reau of In­ter­nal Rev­enue, the DTI should is­sue the im­ple­ment­ing guide­lines and in­for­ma­tion dis­sem­i­na­tion on the VAT ex­emp­tion of all con­sumers on medicines for di­a­betes, high choles­terol, and hy­per­ten­sion that takes ef­fect on Jan­uary 1, 2019 for com­pli­ance by all hos­pi­tals, pub­lic or pri­vate and drug­stores in­clud­ing gener­ics na­tion­wide.
Dimag­iba added that with the Depart­ment of Health, and Bu­reau of In­ter­nal Rev­enue, the DTI should is­sue the im­ple­ment­ing guide­lines and in­for­ma­tion dis­sem­i­na­tion on the VAT ex­emp­tion of all con­sumers on medicines for di­a­betes, high choles­terol, and hy­per­ten­sion that takes ef­fect on Jan­uary 1, 2019 for com­pli­ance by all hos­pi­tals, pub­lic or pri­vate and drug­stores in­clud­ing gener­ics na­tion­wide.
In their state­ment, LKI ex­pressed that ?DTI should pub­lish in all ma­jor dailies and tabloids the up­dates on the E SRP and to mark the items with price in­creases. This will in­form con­sumers on time and on a reg­u­lar ba­sis.
Lastly, the group said ?with the DA and its agen­cies and the DOH, DTI should de­ploy full time price mon­i­tors, in ad­di­tion to reg­u­lar em­ploy­ees, in all wet mar­kets and su­per­mar­kets in all ur­ban cen­ters in the coun­try and sat­u­rate price and sup­ply mon­i­tor­ing.
Dimag­iba re­it­er­ated the six mea­sures sub­mit­ted to the Depart­ment of Trade and In­dus­try amidst the 5.7 per­cent in­fla­tion in July and 7.1 per­cent in­fla­tion for food and non al­co­holic items. LKI main­tains that the high in­fla­tion on food items are very ev­i­dent in the DTI data.
Dimag­iba re­it­er­ated the six mea­sures sub­mit­ted to the Depart­ment of Trade and In­dus­try amidst the 5.7 per­cent in­fla­tion in July and 7.1 per­cent in­fla­tion for food and non al­co­holic items. LKI main­tains that the high in­fla­tion on food items are very ev­i­dent in the DTI data.
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Prices of SRP-listed goods rise as high as 133 percent
Manila Bulletin14 Aug 2018By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
Prices of basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPC) listed under the expanded SRP (suggested retail prices) have increased by an unconscionable 133 percent, according to a study by a consumer advocacy group.
Using data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Laban Konsyumer, Inc. (LKI) study showed that SRP prices rose between 70 percent to as much as 113 percent as of July 16 this year.
Lawyer Victorio A. Dimagiba, LKI president, noted that DTI has expanded the SRP list as of July 16 from 132 to 211 items of basic necessities and prime commodities.
These include canned sardines, processed milk, coffee refill, bread, instant noodles, iodized salt, detergent and laundry soap, bottled water, candles, canned meat, condiments, toilet soap and batteries.
Computing from the old SRP list of 132 items, the study said that only 93 items had increased prices since January to date. This translates to 70 percent of the goods increased prices.
But using the new denominator in 211 items in the expanded SRP, that would be 44 percent increase.
Excluding the 17 items of bottled water and 28 items of candles, that?s an unconscionable 113 percent price increase in the listed items.
The top items in price increases are canned sardines: 15 brands: processed milk: 22 brands; canned meat: 24 brands; and condiments: 16 brands. There were no price increases for bread, under the Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy Pandesal brands but there was no data on the premium and branded breads, which should have been added in the expanded SRP.
There were also no increases for instant noodles and bottled water.
The LKI study further noted that the percentage increases range from 2 percent all the way up to 11 percent, or 10.25 to 11.95 per piece.
Six brands of canned meat and condiments had increased twice this year.
For the month of July alone, LKI said that 3 brands of sardines had increased prices. Under the Expanded SRP, 4 brands of condiments had price increases.
This is too high for the poor consumers.
The group earlier proposed to the DTI the implementation of a moratorium on any price increases on items listed in the SRP until the end of the first quarter of 2019.
?In 2 weeks? time, as we enter the ?Ber? months, this is where pressure on demand and supply of basic necessities and prime commodities can trigger another round of price increases,? said Dimagiba.
The group also proposed discouraging the use of easy open lid for canned products, as this will translate to a savings of a minimum 50 centavos per can. A can of premium sardines has a listed SRP of 116.00 per can while the same item but with easy open lid has a listed SRP of P16.50 per can.
Dimagiba continued that ?together with NFA, they should start the implementation of the 10% discount of NFA rice to the 50 percent poor of the population up to 20 kilos per month, one of the unfulfilled mitigating measures as per express provision of the TRAIN law?.
Dimagiba added that with the Department of Health, and Bureau of Internal Revenue, the DTI should issue the implementing guidelines and information dissemination on the VAT exemption of all consumers on medicines for diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension that takes effect on January 1, 2019 for compliance by all hospitals, public or private and drugstores including generics nationwide.
In their statement, LKI expressed that ?DTI should publish in all major dailies and tabloids the updates on the E SRP and to mark the items with price increases. This will inform consumers on time and on a regular basis.
Lastly, the group said ?with the DA and its agencies and the DOH, DTI should deploy full time price monitors, in addition to regular employees, in all wet markets and supermarkets in all urban centers in the country and saturate price and supply monitoring.
Dimagiba reiterated the six measures submitted to the Department of Trade and Industry amidst the 5.7 percent inflation in July and 7.1 percent inflation for food and non alcoholic items. LKI maintains that the high inflation on food items are very evident in the DTI data.