More than half of noche buena products increased their suggested retail prices (SRPs) this year, giving no relief to Filipinos who have spent the past months cutting their budget amid rising inflation.
Over 65 percent of products increased their SRPs this year, according to Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo, who heads the consumer protection group of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
On the other hand, 25 percent of products maintained the same price while only 2 percent lowered their SRPs.
While Castelo assured consumers that new SRPs would remain unchanged until the end of the holiday season, a consumer group led by a former trade official fears this will “set the stage” for even higher actual prices.
SRPs are mere guide not rule
This is because, in essence, SRPs on noche buena products act more as a guide instead of the rule, according to Victorio Dimagiba, president of Laban Konsyumer, Inc. (LKI).
These products are not considered basic necessities and prime commodities, unlike other manufactured goods covered by the SRP.
Dimagiba said that for instance, the SRPs of queso de bola products increased within the range of P20 to P55, while the SRPs of ham across different brands increased somewhere within the range of P5 to P38.75.
Based on LKI’s computations, these products have the following price increase range: fruit cocktails (P2.25 to P10.75), cheese (P1.90 to P18.10), sandwich spread (25 cents to P9.80), mayonnaise (30 cents to P25.75), pasta/spaghetti (85 cents to P4.50), elbow and salad macaroni (95 cents to P6.50), spaghetti sauce (20 cents to P3), creamer (P2 to P6.50), and tomato sauce (25 cents to P5.501).
Dimagiba, who used to lead the same consumer protection group under DTI, said that manufacturers have historically increased their actual prices in December amid inflation.
However, the inflation spike this year is significantly higher than the increase recorded a year ago giving manufacturers more pressure to push up their prices, according to Dimagiba.
Inflation soared to 6.7 percent in September, the highest in nearly a decade.
This was largely driven by the 9.7 percent price increase of food and non-alcoholic drinks, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
In the same month last year, on the other hand, inflation only grew 3 percent, according to government data.
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