SRP SET IN MM PUBLIC MARKETS;
DA TARGETS REGIONAL AREAS NEXT
By Manny Piñol
In simple ceremonies marking the 120th Anniversary of the Department of Agriculture, I signed an Administrative Circular setting Suggested Retail Prices (SRP) for eight agricultural and fishery commodities in the wet and public markets of Metro Manila.
The SRP sets a base number which will be used in determining whether traders and vendors are involved in Profiteering because the law says that prices could not go higher by 10% of the suggested retail price.
Meaning if the SRP of Ordinary Regular-Milled Rice is P39 per kilo, the maximum increase which the vendors could make would be P42.90, otherwise if they go beyond that they could be charged with violation of the Anti-Profiteering Act which imposes a stiff fine of P1,000 to P1-M and a jail term of up to six years if convicted.
The SRP is aimed at protecting consumers from unscrupulous traders and vendors who speculate on the prices because of perceived effects of market-influencing issues like an increase in Oil price or more specifically, the implementation of the TRAIN Law recently.
The SRP set yesterday will only be applicable in Metro Manila wet and public markets.
The DA will start collating market data in regional urban centers like Cebu, Dagupan, San Fernando, Baguio, Naga, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos and Davao City so that the SRP program could also be implemented in these areas.
The SRP set in Metro Manila could not be used as the basis for the regional SRP because of the difference in the pricing of commodities which may be produced in abundance in a specific area like vegetables in Baguio or fish in General Santos City.
The signing of the Metro Manila SRP yesterday was witnessed by Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, who along with his mother, Gloria, and sister, Anna, received a Plaque of Honor for his father, former Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara.
(Photos show yesterday’s SRP signing ceremonies at the BSWM Hall during the celebration of the 120th Anniversary of the Department of Agriculture.)
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