City Price Monitoring Council holds market inspections
The City Price Monitoring Council (CPMC) could not yet determine whether prices of basic commodities sold in the city's major public markets have increased as a result of the continuous rise in prices of petroleum products.
CPMC on Tuesday conducted random inspection on three of the city's major public markets--La Paz Market, Central Market and the Iloilo Terminal Market, as per instruction of Mayor Jerry Treñas who is out of the country at present.
Councilor Jose Espinosa III said they would conduct some validation yet in order to determine the effect of oil price increases on the prices of basic commodities. However, he said, they are instituting different measures to protect the welfare of the consumers.
Espinosa said the City Engineers Office will set up a bulletin board in every market to reflect the prevailing price or the suggested retail price of commodities. With the billboard, the shoppers would have a point of comparison in the prices offered by each seller or retailer.
The market-in-charge and the DTI would be be responsible for the updating of prices. The inspection last Tuesday only served as a warning to retailers and sellers who might take advantage of the recent price increase in petroleum products.
The inspection team was composed of Espinosa, OIC Mayor Guillermo de la Llana, City Health Officer Urminico Baronda and a representative from the Department of Trade and Industry.
Other than monitoring the prices of basic commodities, the council also checked the different Kilohan ng Bayan installed in every market.
Each market in the city have its own Kilohan ng Bayan or public weighing scale to make sure they get the right weight of their purchased commodities such as rice, sugar, fish, meat and other poultry products.
Meanwhile, De la Llana said 90 percent of vendors in the different wet markets in the city comply with the Price Tag Law which calls for the displaying of prices of every goods for sale.
De la Llana said he has already asked each market-in-charge to remind the remaining 10 percent of the vendors to put price tags on their merchandise.
Last Tuesday's inspection is only a preliminary action from the council in its effort to monitor the prices of basic commodities and same time make sure the buyers are not cheated by vendors in weighing their purchased goods.