The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev) said Thursday that there is currently no price ceiling on basic commodities and essential goods amid calls for a full state of national emergency and rising food prices.
During the Senate Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy (PROTECT) Committee hearing, Senator Bam Aquino questioned the Marcos administration for stopping short of declaring a full state of national emergency, which could have enabled a price freeze, instead focusing on the energy sector.
In the hearing, Aquino said he found no provision for a price ceiling on basic commodities and essential goods under the Executive Order declaring a national energy emergency.
“Hinahanap ko sa National Energy Emergency EO, yung provision na yun, ‘di ko mahanap. Ngayon na may national energy emergency, pumapasok na rin ba yung price ceiling natin for basic commodities and essential goods?...Kasi yung isang rason kung bakit tayo nagtawag ng national emergency is to put the price ceiling on essential goods and basic commodities,” Aquino said.
He added: “Ang, ang nilabas ninyo is national energy emergency, which I know addresses the supply issues, but I don't think it addresses the concern when it comes to basic goods, basic, ah, necessities and essential, basic commodities and essential goods. I want to clarify, meron ba tayo ngayong price ceiling sa essential goods and basic commodities?”
“No price freeze as of now [for basic commodities],” Assistant Secretary Reynaldo Cancho of DepDev responded.
Aquino said that a price freeze would only be possible if a full state of national emergency is declared, and not just a state of national energy emergency, which focuses solely on the energy sector.
During the hearing, Aquino said that several lawmakers had suggested declaring a full state of national emergency primarily to impose a price freeze on essential goods and basic commodities.
“Kasi ayaw natin makita na yung merkado, magtutuloy-tuloy yung pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin dahil sa pagtaas ng presyo ng diesel at gasolina. So as much as natuwa kami na tinawag na ito para yung supply natin ay magkakaroon ng mas malaking leeway ‘no, para sa gobyerno at para sa private companies na makapag-replenish ng supply,” Aquino said.
He noted that they wanted to prevent the market from continuing to raise prices in response to the rising cost of diesel and gasoline.
“Personally, palagay ko po at palagay siguro ng marami ho sa amin, kulang pa dahil ang hinahanap rin ng taumbayan hindi magtuloy-tuloy yung pagtaas ng presyo sa mga palengke, sa supermarket, sa grocery. Eh, bago pa po nangyari yung giyera, pakiramdam na ng maraming tao mataas na yung presyo ng bilihin,” sambit pa niya.
While he welcomed the declaration for energy supply purposes, Aquino added that it was still insufficient, as the public was concerned about persistent price increases in markets, supermarkets, and grocery stores.
He also pointed out that even before the conflict, many people felt that prices were already high, and in just one month, diesel and gasoline prices had surged significantly.
