So far so good

Egay Uy .

THE more recent monitoring by the Department of Trade and Industry Misamis Oriental Provincial Office of prices of items under basic necessities and prime commodities shows that there was not much movement in prices vis-à-vis the DTI-released February 2019 suggested retail prices.

The DTI monitors from various sources the lowest and highest prices of a certain item. I got the averages of the price ranges some items which are presented below.

The April 19, 2019 monitoring shows that on the average, the SRP for canned sardines was P15.89.  The low average monitored was P15.66 and the high average price was at P16.38.  Even then, there were outlets that still sold the items at prices lower than the SRP.

Evaporated filled milk had an average suggested retail price of P34.54.  The average lowest price monitored was at P32.48 and the highest average was just equal to the SRP of P34.54. 

Corned beef had an average SRP of P30.59 while the lowest average price was at P28.38.  The highest average price was at P30.31, still lower than the average SRP.

Instant noodles on the other hand had an average SRP of P6.81 and the lowest average price monitored during the week was at P6.73.  The highest average price however was two centavos higher than the average SRP at P6.83.

Meat loaf however had the highest increase in their highest average retail price at P18.53 compared to the average SRP of P17.63.  There were outlets however that sold the same products at a low average of P17.13.

Condensed milk also had a higher average maximum retail price of P38.72 compared to the average SRP of P38.16.  The low average retail price was however much lower than the average SRP at P36.33.

Coffee refill also registered a significant decrease in the average highest retail price at P27.16 compared to the average SRP of P27.83.  The lowest average retail price however was much lower at P24.60.

What do these prices tell us?  To a layman like me, these prices indicate that there was not much adverse effect yet of the soft el Nino on the prices of the monitored basic necessities and prime commodities, especially that the April 19 monitoring was pitted against the suggested retail prices as of February 13, 2019.

Your City Price Coordinating Council which is chaired by Mayor Oscar S. Moreno and co-chaired by yours truly, and the DTI Misamis Oriental Provincial Office under its OIC Provincial Director, Ms. Almer Masillones, are keeping watch of the prices of basic necessities and prime commodities for the protection of the consuming public.

So far, prices are still stable.

(Egay Uy is a lawyer. He chairs the City’s Regulatory and Complaint Board, co-chairs with the city mayor the City Price Coordinating Council, and chairs the city’s Joint Inspection Team.  He retired as a vice president of Cepalco.)