Lt. Col. Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office-7 director, Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin. (PNA file photo)
CEBU CITY – The police cautioned rice retailers who will violate the rice price ceiling set by the government, a ranking regional police official said Thursday.
Lt. Col. Gerard Ace Pelare, Central Visayas Police Regional Office spokesperson, said the PNP regional headquarters has instructed all police units to help monitor the market and ensure that Executive Order 39 is being followed.
Pelare said the police would not hesitate to file charges against traders who get caught violating the price cap, as mandated by the EO issued by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. last week.
“There’s a law penalizing who will violate the ceiling. If we can see or receive a report, we will investigate, then we will arrest people and file charges,” Pelare told reporters.
Pelare said the police are now coordinating with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to properly implement the EO, citing the possibility that rice stocks in the market were bought long before the price cap was issued.
On Wednesday, DTI-Central Visayas regional director Ma. Elena Arbon said they are conducting profiling of rice retailers in Cebu and other parts of the region, amid the implementation of EO 39.
The national government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will help rice retailers who may be affected by the EO.
The DTI has yet to release a guideline on the financial assistance to be given to the selected rice retailers.
Meanwhile, in a press conference on Thursday, Mayor Michael Rama ordered the formation of the Rice Price Monitoring Task Force to fully implement the EO, while he is away for a visit to Vladivostok, Russia.
Rama said the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the DTI should sit with the city officials in laying down parameters for implementing the EO. (PNA)
