DILG goes after profiteers
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) ordered yesterday the reactivation of Local Price Coordinating Councils (LPCCs) following reports that prices of basic goods have become exorbitant in some areas hit by disasters in the past weeks.
Senators also renewed their call for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to impose a ceiling on the prices of rice as importers and traders are already taking advantage of the rice shortage in some parts of the country.
In issuing the order, DILG officerin-charge Eduardo Año also directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to strictly enforce laws that protect consumer rights.
“The LGUs (local government units) and the PNP should now act against the unreasonable increase in the market prices of goods,” Año said in a statement.
Año said LPCCs should conduct regular inspection of public and private markets, address alleged abuses by local traders and also deputize barangay officials and even non-governmental organizations to monitor unusual price increases.
For the police, Año said they should coordinate with concerned agencies and LGUs for the enforcement of Republic Act 10623 or the Revised Price Law, RA 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act and other related laws.
“The bottom line is we should protect the interest of consumers,” he said.
Año likewise urged local officials and their regional officers to report incidents of hoarding and price manipulation.
“Our LGUs, barangays and the DILG regional and field offices should make active coordination with agencies like the (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to thwart unnecessary price adjustments and hoarding of primary goods like rice,” he said.
Price ceilings
Senators Cynthia Villar and Francis Escudero pressed for the imposition of price ceilings for rice as some of their colleagues continued to call for the resignation of Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol and National Food Authority administrator Jason Aquino.
Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said the DTI has the power to impose price ceilings on basic commodities.
“Government, through the DTI, should immediately impose a price ceiling on rice. It is overpriced by P4 to P13, and up to P28 to P38 in Zamboanga City, per kilo and importers/traders are making a killing at the expense of our people and economy,” Escudero said.
Escudero also asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe the probable violations under Republic Act 10845, also known as the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.
According to the law, the government must protect the agriculture sector, especially the farmers from “traders and importers, who by their illegal importation of agriculture products, especially rice, significantly affect the production, availability of supply and stability of prices and the food security of the State.”