Amid soaring prices, Marañon calls for Price Coordinating Council meeting today

AMID the soaring prices of goods and commodities, Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. will meet with the members of the Price Coordinating Council today.

This was confirmed by Frank Carbon, executive officer of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, after he received an invitation sent by Acting Provincial Administrator Lucille Gelvolea.

The meeting will be held at the Governor’s Office at 10 a.m.

Carnon said the meeting is timely especially that on Tuesday, October 8, another big-time price hike on the prices of fuels is looming at P1.50 per liter for diesel and P1 per liter for gasoline.

“This is too much that it would certainly result to more price hike of prime commodities and goods in the market,” Carbon pointed out.

Carbon said he is hoping that concerned government agencies especially the National Food Authority will attend the meeting because he will ask and suggest to the governor to ask the NFA to allow the employers to buy (to be accredited) rice from the NFA and sold them at the same NFA price to their respective employees so they would no longer need to go to the rice retailers.

“I’ve heard that people will have to line up just to buy NFA rice which is being sold limited to one kilo per buyer. We would also like to make things easy for NFA and this is our way to ease the situation,” Carbon said.

He revealed that the employers have already brought out the idea to NFA here in Negros Occidental but they were told that it needs a go signal and approval from the national office.

Carbon also said the MBCCI will suggest to the governor to hold a farmers market or bagsakan at the convergence areas where people would be able to buy vegetables and other agricultural products, foods especially rice and other products at a lesser cost.

“We will ask the local government units to use their dump trucks and other government vehicles to bring the farmers products to the center at lesser transportation cost so they will also sell their products at lower cost,” Carbon said.

Carbon said that spring prices and the huge inflation rate are already unbearable at this time. “I cannot imagine how this looming additional prices on fuels will affect the prices of goods and commodities,” Carbon said.*