The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Bohol makes sure consumers are protected from establishments taking advantage of the demand of Noche Buena products this season.
DTI-Bohol Consumer Welfare Division Chief Jose Hibaya pointed this out after noting increases of prices of Noche Buena products as December starts, based on the latest price and supply monitoring conducted in the leading supermarkets in Tagbilaran City.
Hibaya said DTI-Bohol already sent show cause orders to establishments in Tagbilaran City caught increasing the prices above the SRP.
With this, Hibaya assured consumers that prices of Noche Buena products will stabilize before stores could further take advantage of the increased demand this season.
Hibaya said the DTI-Bohol makes sure stores will follow the suggested retail prices of products to protect the welfare of consumers.
Among those that increased by P1 to P10 per item are prices of fruit cocktails, sandwich spread, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce and elbow macaroni.
The list is shorter this time compared to last year when DTI monitored prices increases on ten items that included ham, fruit cocktail, cheese, sandwich spread, mayonnaise, queso de bola, macaroni, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and cream.
Elbow and salad macaroni were not in the list then.
Even on other occasions, the DTI constantly watches on the prices of items in establishments to protect the welfare of consumers.
Hibaya, however, said earlier that while ‘prices of some brands of fruit cocktail, sandwich spread, spaghetti,spaghetti sauce and  elbow macaroni  have increased, the costs of other products have gone down, although the price of one kind of ham had increased by P14.50’.
Hibaya also noted that ‘prices of fruit cocktail have risen by at least P1 to P7, spaghetti and spaghetti sauces have increased by 1 to 10.00, while those of sandwich spread and elbow macaroni have increased by P1.00 and P8.00 respectively’.
“Majority of the listed products in the 2015 Noche Buena SRP (suggested retail price) have same prices with last year’s SRP,†as Hibaya was quoted in earlier reports.
He had also said that ‘prices of various brands of elbow and salad macaroni, spaghetti sauce and spaghetti have both increased while costs of cheese and queso de bola remain the same’.
“Supermarkets are advised to put their posters in strategic areas for the consumer’s information and guidance,†according to Hibaya in an earlier statement published in The Chronicle.