Batangas shops found to be selling several products over the SRP

Amid the eruption of the Taal Volcano, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) found that some Batangas shops were selling products over their suggested retail price (SRP).

According to a Tuesday report by Marisol Abdurahman on Balitanghali, the DTI and the DA found that a supermarket was selling a brand of mineral water for P22.75 for a liter bottle despite an SRP of P18.

Other mineral water brands in the store were also a few centavos higher than their SRPs, while sugar products were priced a P1.50 over their SRP.

Authorities thus issued a notice of violation on the supermarket.

However, the officer-in-charge in the supermarket said they were only a branch and the prices came from their head office.

Furthermore, the supermarket management said they were unaware of the SRPs.

"Kung ano lang po 'yung binabato sa amin na price, 'yun po talaga 'yung ini-implement namin sa store," Eunice Vanoosterweyck said.

On January 13, DTI ordered a price freeze on medical drugs and commodities in areas affected by the Taal Volcano eruption due to reports of overpricing.

Meanwhile, in the Batangas City Public Market, the prices of chicken and pork products continued to hover at around P170 to P180 per kilo, similar to what they were before the Taal eruption.

However, the farmgate price of chicken was between P70 to P80, suggesting that market prices should be between P130 to P140 per kilo.

"Now we have to check bakit ganoon ang presyo dito sa Batangas. Is it from the source already?" asked DA Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista

Some pork products, meanwhile, did not have the National Meat Inspection Service certificate, prompting authorities to reprimand shopowners. — Joahna Lei Casilao/DVM, GMA News