DTI organizes Diskwento Caravans for calamity areas in Bohol

In an effort to bring prime commodities and basic necessities at discounted prices to consumers in Bohol, particularly in areas affected by the earthquake, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is holding a series of Diskwento Caravans.

DTI will coordinate closely with the Provincial Price Coordinating Council (PPCC) and Local Government Units (LGUs) in holding the Diskwento Caravan in Antequera on October 27 (Sunday) , in Maribojoc on October 29  (Tuesday) and Tubigon on Oct. 31.

Yesterday, Oct. 24, DTI conducted a Diskwento Caravan in Loon, Bohol.

Products featured in the Diskwento Caravans in Bohol include canned goods,  bath soaps, shampoos, coffee, milk, noodles, rice, biscuits, eggs,  bread, dressed chicken, , bottled water,  and cleansing agents, among others.. 

The Alturas Group of Companies, Bohol Quality Corporation and AH Shoppers’ Mart, Gardenia Bakeries Phils. Inc. are some of the participating retailers while the National Food Authority (NFA) will be there to sell NFA rice to consumers.

DTI-Central Visayas Regional Director  Asteria Caberte underscores that the DTI  conducts Diskwento Caravans in Bohol to ensure that local consumers will have access to essential goods in the midst of the crisis they are facing.

The Diskwento Caravan is a project of the DTI where basic necessities and prime commodities are sold at discounted prices. The project upholds the right of consumers to have access to basic goods, especially those belonging in marginalized communities.

Aside from Diskwento Caravans, DTI also monitored the supply and prices of basic and prime commodities.

As of Monday, October 21, the DTI’s price and supply monitoring teams have visited and checked 236 wet markets, supermarkets, and retail stores in the affected provinces and cities of Bohol and Cebu, which are earthquake-stricken areas under state of calamity.

DTI-Consumer Welfare and Business Regulation Group (CWBRG) Officer-in-Charge Atty. Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba asserts, “Through the DTI’s Central Visayas regional office and provincial offices of Bohol and Cebu, several teams simultaneously monitored retail stores and establishments of basic necessities to ensure that there is adequate supply of said products and are available for sale to affected consumers”.

“Equally important, the Department also verified from the retailers that they are selling these basic goods according to the list of prevailing prices that was released last Friday, 18 October 3013, which protects the affected consumers from businesses that take advantage of these unfortunate situations”, OIC Dimagiba points out.

Since the onslaught of the 7.2 Richter scale earthquake in Bohol, the DTI regional office of Central Visayas and its provinces were directed to closely monitor the price and supply of establishments distributing basic goods in affected areas.

Bohol and Cebu have been declared under state of calamity through provincial board resolutions. A provincial board or a local government unit declares its area under state of calamity when necessary. Section 6 of the Republic Act 7581 or the Price Act specifies that when an area was proclaimed or declared a disaster area or under a state of calamity, prices of basic necessities in an area shall automatically be frozen at their prevailing prices or placed under automatic price control.

DTI-Region VII (Central Visayas) Regional Director Asteria C. Caberte explains, “The DTI teams in Central Visayas have intensified their efforts in inspecting affected areas and in checking the wet markets, supermarkets and other retailers that sell products that are commonly used by the public at this time”.

The DTI-Cebu teams monitored the establishments in the five (5) cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapulapu, Danao and Talisay; and in the seven (7) municipalities of Consolacion, Compostela, Liloan, Carmen, Catmon, Naga, and Minglanilla. Similarly, the DTI-Bohol checked the retailers in Tagbiliran City and its 28 municipalities of Clarin, Cortes, Catigbian, Alburquerque, Ubay, San Miguel, Talibon, Sevilla, Batuan, Bilar; Carmen, Corella, Balilihan, Sikatuna, Dagohoy, Getafe, Trinidad, Loboc, Loon, Maribojoc, San Isidro, Calape, Buenavista, Inabanga, Tubigon, Baclayon, Sagbayan, and, Antequera.

Regional Director Caberte specifies, “We did check the prices and supplies of basic goods in 236 outlets. From this exercise, we found 30 retailers – six (6) retail establishments and 24 retail stores – that are selling more than the dictated prices of basic necessities should have and as such, we have issued them their notices of violation that summon each one of them to explain why they were selling much more than the set prevailing prices”.

“ These 30 establishments shall undergo due process and  DTI CWBRG will provide the necessary assistance to DTI-Central Visayas by sending mediation/ adjudication officers to handle the cases. In this case, the DTI-Central Visayas can focus in monitoring the market and in enforcing the set prevailing prices for basic necessities”, OIC Dimagiba points out.

In Section 5 of the Price Act, profiteering is one of the illegal acts of price manipulation. It provides that an administrative fine of up to One Million Pesos (P1,000,000.00) and/ or a maximum of 10-year imprisonment shall be imposed for violation of Price Control or the price freeze.

Atty. Dimagiba emphasizes that the DTI’s regional and provincial offices are working hand in hand with the local government units and other offices through the Local Price Coordinating Councils or LPCCs.

The Price Act lists the basic necessities assigned to DTI – canned fish and other marine products, processed milk, coffee, laundry soap, detergent, candles, bread, and, salt; assigned to the Department of Agriculture (DA) – rice, corn, cooking oil, fresh eggs, fresh pork/ beef and poultry meat, fresh milk, fresh vegetables, root crops, sugar, fresh/ dried and other marine products; assigned to Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) – firewood and charcoal; and, the Department of Health (DOH) – drugs classified as essential by DOH.

The DTI, as chairperson of the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC), coordinates with its members from government and private sectors, to cooperate with one another during natural disasters and emergencies.

The DTI published the list of prevailing prices under price freeze in the provinces of Bohol and Cebu last 18 October 2013 in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, and The Freeman (Bohol and Cebu); last 19 October 2013 in Sun Star Cebu and Cebu Daily News; and yesterday, 20 October 2013 in The Bohol Chronicle.

For more information on the Diskwento Caravan and  update on price and supply of basic and prime commodities in Bohol and Cebu,  interested parties may contact the following telephone numbers: DTI-BTRCP 751.3233; DTI-Region VII (032) 255.0036/ 255.0037; DTI-Bohol (038) 501.8260;; DTI Cebu (032) 255-3926 and (032) 255-6971.
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