Bacolod mayor plans to reorganize price monitoring unit

BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia is planning to reorganize the city’s Price Monitoring Unit (PMU) to evaluate the impact of the surging inflation in the country.

Leonardia said the PMU has always been there, but by virtue of what is happening (in terms of inflation), they will reorganize the team for the purposes of giving it a more focus.

“We will review the composition of team and at the same time, I already asked executive assistant George Zulueta, who is connected with the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), to go around and set a meeting with some sectors to help the city to evaluate our situation,” he said.

In terms of inflation, or the sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services, data obtained by Sunstar Bacolod earlier from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that rate in the province for August surged to 8.7 percent.

The figure is higher than the national average inflation rate of 6.4 percent for the said month.

Executive assistant Ernie Pineda, head of market coordinating and monitoring task force, said they were conducting a daily price monitoring in various business establishments, especially to three big public markets to determine the prices of basic commodities.

He said at least three teams were deployed to the three major public markets and supermarkets in various malls.

“So far based on our monitoring there were no sudden changes of prices in Bacolod or hoarding of products,” he added.

Pineda noted that based on their daily price monitoring, there is no massive price increase on basic commodities.

Pineda cited Republic Act No. 7581 or the Price Act which states that unless otherwise declared by the President, prices of basic necessities in an area shall automatically be frozen their prevailing prices or placed under automatic price control whenever the area is declared under an emergency.*