SPEAKER Martin Romualdez yesterday visited the Farmers Plaza where he conducted a price check on basic commodities to find out if they remain within the bounds of suggested retail prices (SRP).
“We want to make sure that traders do not take advantage of the holiday season to jack up prices of basic commodities. The Christmas season is meant to be a time of giving and compassion, and we want to make sure that prices of goods are affordable to a great majority of our people,” the Speaker said. “First, rice and other Christmas Eve items should be affordable. Vegetables like onions, garlic, cabbage and other veggies, too. We appeal to retailers to follow the SRP,” he said.
Romualdez said the market visit is part of the oversight functions of the House of Representatives to fight inflation, especially in light of the investigation of the Committee on Agriculture and Food on the hoarding and manipulation of the prices of rice and onion.
Rep. Erwin Tulfo (PL, ACT-CIS), who accompanied the Speaker in making the rounds, said the House will conduct price checks regularly as part of the all-out war against profiteers preying on hapless consumers.”
The Speaker warned greedy traders who are exploiting supply and prices, citing the House’s success in revealing those behind onion price manipulations.
“Remember, the House, through the Committee on Agriculture and Food led by our dedicated and focused Chairman (Quezon Rep.) Mark Enverga, successfully unmasked the personalities involved in the hoarding and price manipulation of onions after concluding a four-month investigation,” he said.
He said these congressional hearings resulted in the drastic drop in onion prices from P700 to P160 per kilo.
Last September, the House also approved on the third and final reading a bill amending and expanding the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act by providing life imprisonment to those who will be found guilty of violating the economic sabotage law. The new bill classifies the smuggling of rice and other agricultural products as “economic sabotage.”
“The House will continue to pass similar legislative measures to help the agricultural sector and support the prosperity agenda of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Romualdez Marcos Jr.,” Romualdez said.
He said the House leadership’s primary task is to protect people’s welfare by providing them with the most affordable goods in the market, which he added, is “a reaffirmation of our commitment to ensuring fair pricing and protecting consumers’ interests by fighting hoarding and exorbitant prices.”
The Speaker encouraged suppliers to double the delivery of necessary items to retailers, small traders, and market stallholders until the end of the holiday season.
