PRICE FREEZE. Department of Trade and Industry-Antique provincial officer Rhoda Valkyrie Aban monitors the price of basic necessities at a supermarket in San Jose de Buenavista on Wednesday (March 11, 2020). The DTI will soon implement a price freeze due to coronavirus disease 2019. (Photo courtesy of DTI Antique)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Antique is set to implement a price freeze following the issuance of Proclamation Number 0922, declaring a State of Public Health Emergency due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
DTI Antique information officer Lynna Joy Cardinal said they are now finalizing the list of prevailing prices in the 18 municipalities of the province for submission to the DTI Regional Office 6 (Western Visayas) for approval and publication.
“The price freeze will be implemented after the publication for public information,” she said in an interview on Thursday.
Cardinal said the price freeze will be implemented on basic necessities such as detergent soap, candle, loaf bread, iodized and rock salt, potable water bottle and containers, and on the locally manufactured noodles.
“The price freeze will be implemented according to Republic Act 7581 and Republic Act 10623,” she said.
Republic Act 7581 and Republic Act 10623 provide protection to consumers by stabilizing the prices of basic necessities and prime commodities during emergency situations.
Cardinal said the Negosyo Center counselors throughout the province have been instructed to monitor the various stores and establishments starting Wednesday so they could monitor the prevailing prices pending the price freeze imposition.
“The Negosyo Center counselors are told to submit their reports daily to the DTI Antique provincial office,” she said.
As of Thursday, Cardinal said there are still no available face masks in stores and drugstores here.
“There are still no available face masks and only limited stocks of alcohol,” she said.
The DTI Antique starting Feb. 10, 2020, had been monitoring the stocks of face masks and alcohol that had been in demand because of the Covid-19. (PNA)
