THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will soon release the list of suggested retail prices (SRP) for Noche Buena goods soon.
DTI Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said in a recent virtual briefing that the department will only include on the list those products the prices of which were kept the same or even lower.
Out of 154 products, 94 will have the same price from last year. The prices of 21 items were brought down by the manufacturers, she noted. Castelo said the SRP list will include pasta, sauce, fruit cocktail, cheese, ham and creamer, among others.
“So good news iyon para sa mga consumers natin na maghahain ng Noche Buena sa Pasko [It is good news for consumers who will serve Noche Buena items this Christmas],” she said.
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez previously said that the Noche Buena prices are “relatively stable.”
Lopez explained that price increases are unavoidable but assured the public that they are capped 3 percent.
“Mas mababa pa ‘yung 3 percent kaysa sa inflation rate na 4 percent ‘no; so at least magiging manageable iyong pagtaas ng mga ilang produkto [The 3-percent price increase is still lower than the 4-percent inflation, so the price increase is still manageable],” the DTI chief explained.
Still related to Christmas purchases, Castelo reminded the public to check the Philippine Standard (PS) mark when buying Christmas lights.
“Import commodity clearance is a product safety standard mark, para siguradong pumasa sa kalidad at sa lahat ng testing na ginagawa ng DTI [Import commodity clearance is a product safety standard mark that assures the products passed the quality testing by DTI],” she said.
Castelo said the public may access the list of manufacturers and importers certified by the DTI on their website.
She also reminded consumers to be vigilant when buying online for their Christmas gifts, noting the DTI has received numerous complaints regarding e-commerce transactions.
Among the complaints: the products are defective, goods were damaged in transit, the wrong item was delivered and purchased goods were not delivered, she said.
Castelo said the consumers may raise their concerns to the DTI’s platform if needed.