A trade and industry official on Monday said fuel accounts for less than a tenth—on the average—of the distribution costs of basic necessities and prime commodities in the country.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Assistant Secretary Anne Claire Cabochan presented during the Senate Committee on Energy hearing the share of fuel on the distribution costs of the various commodities.
Cabochan’s presentation showed that canned sardines had the highest fuel share in terms of their distribution cost that ranged from 3 percent to 12 percent.
The share of fuel in the distribution cost of processed milk was at 5 percent while in coffee it ranged from 2 percent to 5 percent.
Fuel’s share in the distribution costs of canned meat ranged from 5 percent to 9 percent and for candles it was 4 percent to 10 percent. For soap products, the share of fuel in their distribution costs ranged from 3 percent to 5 percent.
Cabochan told lawmakers that the DTI has been aggressive with its price monitoring duties since it is one of the implementing agencies of the Price Act.
The DTI monitors 216 basic necessities and prime commodities regularly to ensure “reasonable prices” nationwide at all times. The price monitoring is done in key cities and municipalities on a weekly basis while monitoring in other areas is conducted on a monthly basis.
Cabochan also shared that the DTI has also sustained the roll-out of its Presyong Risonable Dapat Program (PRDP) for frozen meats that seek to streamline the value chain by selling imported meat products directly to consumers.
At present, the PRDP frozen meat edition is present in 83 Robinsons supermarkets in NCR, 25 Puregold supermarkets in NCR and Bulacan, as well as 5 Metro supermarkets in NCR, Cabochan said.
Cabochan disclosed that they have been in talks with retailers regularly to ensure sufficient supply of food products in the market shelves.
Cabochan said they recently asked retailers to replenish their stocks after the DTI’s monitoring group identified that certain products could not be found on their shelves.