By Minerva Newman CEBU CITY – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Central Visayas implemented a price freeze on basic commodities in the City of Naga on Monday, after the city was placed under state of calamity last week following a massive landslide that displaced more than 7,500 residents in six barangays. (MANILA BULLETIN) DTI-Central Visayas Regional Director Asteria Caberte said that under RA-7581 or the Price Act, prices of necessities and prime commodities in areas declared under state of calamity or emergency are automatically frozen at their prevailing prices or placed under automatic price control. Basic necessities include canned sardines, processed, sweetened/condensed and evaporated milk, coffee, detergent/laundry soap, instant noodles and bottled water, Caberte said. According to Caberte, DTI is closely monitoring the prices in the City of Naga, and any retailer found violating the price freeze order shall be fined P1 million and / or imprisoned for a maximum of one year. In a media forum Monday to kick off Consumer Welfare Month, Caberte bared that the province of Cebu also reconvened the local price control councils (LPCCs) in towns and cities including the Cebu Provincial Price and Monitoring Council. “The LPCCs strictly monitor prices to ease up supply and increases of prices of all prime and basic commodities including rice,” Caberte added. Caberte said that recently the provincial price monitoring council urged the National Food Authority (NFA) here to fast track registration approval of more rice retailers in supermarkets and to flood them with more NFA-rice. There are 14 Pagasa member/retailers that are now selling NFA rice in supermarkets in Cebu and in Dumaguete City, Caberte added. There is also memorandum order #28 that mandated NFA to flood the markets in the country with more than 234,000-MT of rice with 100,000-MT released end of September, Caberte said.