DTI freezes prices in typhoon-hit areas By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @Tyronepiad
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HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has imposed a price freeze amid the onslaught of Supertyphoon Odette in several areas in Mindanao and Visayas. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez confirmed on Tuesday that a price freeze on basic necessities and prime commodities is in place for 60 days following the declaration of a state of calamity in certain provinces. According to the Republic Act 7581 or Price Act, basic necessities include rice; corn; bread; fresh, dried and canned fish and other marine products, fresh pork, beef and poultry meal; fresh eggs; fresh and processed milk; fresh vegetables; root crops; coffee; sugar; cooking
oil; salt; laundry soap; detergents; firewood; charcoal; candles; and drugs classified as essential by the Department of Health. Meanwhile, prime commodities refer to fresh fruits; flour; dried processed and canned pork; beef and poultry meat; dairy products not falling under basic necessities; noodles; onions; garlic; vinegar; patis; soy sauce; toilet soap; fertilizer; pesticides; herbicides; poultry; swine and cattle feeds; veterinary products for poultry, swine and cattle; paper; and school supplies, among others. Laban Konsyumer President Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba said it was necessary for a price freeze on goods, especially those for relief operations. This, as prices are expected to rise given the disruptions due to the
onslaught of the typhoon, he said. “They [government] should mobilize logistics service providers to bring basic goods from NCR [National Capital Region] to the Odette areas,” Dimagiba told the BusinessMirror. “We enjoin government and private sector to work hand in hand,” he added. He also called on the bread manufacturers to donate goods, because these are ready-to-eat food items. In a statement sent to the reporters, Lopez noted that the major groceries and supermarkets are complying with the suggested retail prices for basic necessities and prime commodities. However, he noted reports of overpricing of bottled water and generator sets in Cebu and Negros Occidental.
The DTI official said he ordered the Consumer Protection Group and Regional Offices to monitor the retailers and apprehend those who are profiteering amid the calamity. “We will not allow the public to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous individuals and we will not hesitate to file charges against these individuals to the full extent of the law,” he said. T hose found g u i lt y of suc h practice can be fined P300,000 and imprisoned for one year. “The business owners should not take advantage of the already unfortunate condition of our people,” he added. Last week, Lopez said that the typhoon-stricken areas may be subject to price freeze once they are declared under a state of calamity by their respective local government units.
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11-MO BOP IN SURPLUS DESPITE $123-M NOV GAP ‘LATE JOINING, OPT-OUT OF RCEP SENDS WRONG SIGNAL TO INVESTORS’
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PHOTO taken by Erwin Mascariñas for Greenpeace shows a heartbreaking scene of destruction, from the air, caused by Super Typhoon Odette in Barangay Punta Bilar, Surigao City. The Department of Trade and Industry has imposed a price freeze on essentials in typhoon-hit areas after reports broke that some quarters were jacking up prices of bottled water and food, items that are hard to find in areas cut off by the typhoon’s ruin of public infrastructure. Story on price freeze above. Other related typhoon stories on pages A3, A4 and A5. By Bianca Cuaresma
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@BcuaresmaBM
HE country’s dollar transactions with the rest of the world slumped back to deficit territory in November after its recovery to surplus in the previous month. See “BOP,” A2
EL AY ING the participation or opting out from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) may send the wrong signal that the Philippines is not keen on cross-border cooperation, said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which has been lobbying for the trade deal’s ratification. In a statement on Tuesday, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez explained that the country may appear as not open to closer economic integration, in addition to not being inclined to create a business-friendly environment and provide a stable rules-based system for trading. “This may impact the country’s ability to attract foreign direct investments, especially when compared with our Asean
neighbors that are already part of the RCEP. This may also affect other international trade engagements we are pursuing,” he said. “If our goal is to strengthen the Philippine economy, following the detrimental impacts of the Covid-19, non-participation or delayed participation in RCEP is not a strategic move,” he added. Lopez called anew for Senate concurrence in the ratification of the largest trade deal in the globe in order to allow the country’s participation. To date, six Asean countries and their five free-trade partners have signified their ratification. The deal is set to enter into force by January 1, 2022. See “RCEP,” A2
COA voids textile firms’ ₧390-M illegal TCCs By Bernadette D. Nicolas
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@BNicolasBM
HE Commission on Audit (COA) disallowed another set of illegal tax perks worth P390.04 million that were granted to textile companies from 2008 to 2014, bringing the current total of invalidated tax credit cer-
tificates (TCCs) received by these firms to P3.41 billion. Citing a report from the COA Special Audits Office to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the Department of Finance (DOF) said P214.38 million of the newly disallowed TCCs were granted to Primeknit Manufacturing Corp. (PMC) while TCCs worth P175.66
million were given to Tai-Cheng Integrated Resource Inc. (TICIRI). These were on top of the previous batches of TCCs received by textile firms worth P3.018 billion that the COA had invalidated. The illegal TCCs were issued between 2008 and 2014 by the One-Stop-Shop Inter-Agency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center
(OSS) that is attached to the DOF. Aside from PMC and TICIRI, the other errant textile firms with invalidated TCCs are Silvertex Weaving Corp. (SWC), Knitech Manufacturing Inc. (KMI), Capital-Roll Knit Corp. (CRC), Uni-Glory’s Knitting Corp. (UKC), Miskhu
PESO exchange rates n US 49.9540 n japan 0.4398 n UK 65.9792 n HK 6.4036 n CHINA 7.8349 n singapore 36.5562 n australia 35.5123 n EU 56.3431 n SAUDI arabia 13.3086
See “COA,” A2
Source: BSP (21 December 2021)