No price increase

Noche Buena items remain stable

NO significant increase yet for Noche Buena items, said Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Davao official said.

“So far there are yet to be differences or increase with the Noche Buena items sold in supermarkets since it’s not yet the rush season to shop but we will make sure to continue monitoring especially by the end of November,” DTI Davao regional director Belinda Ambi said.

Last year, she said, there had been slight increases for some products, which include canned goods as the cost of imported tins had increased as well. However, the increase on the prices of the products was not as significant and was not really felt by the consumers.

DTI central office is scheduled to release suggested retail prices (SRP) for Noche Buena products by the later weeks of November which will then be cascaded by DTI Davao Region to different establishments and supermarkets in the region for compliance.

“Usually, we inspect without prior notice. We check as scheduled by DTI with no previous announcement so establishments should just always be ready,” she said.

DTI can charge profiteering to establishments and supermarkets that are caught going beyond the suggested price.

On December last year, Ambi reported to have monitored no significant increase in all Noche Buena products in the entire region. Products included in this monitoring are ham, fruit cocktail, cheese, mayonnaise, keso de bola, spaghetti pasta, elbow and salad macaroni, spaghetti and tomato sauce, and all-purpose cream.