Consumer advocacy group Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) warned against higher inflation this month considering the unabated increases in prices of basic necessities especially agricultural and marine products to the detriment of consumers.
LKI President Vic Dimagiba raised the alarm as a reaction to the 3.3 inflation in November where the National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Finance and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas blamed the typhoon and ASF disease as the drivers why food prices prices shoot up.
The consumer advocacy group raised this alarm stressing that consumers are the most affected and are still recovering.
In a radio interview, Dimagiba disagreed with the reasons given for the price hikes as he stressed that all basic necessities and prime commodities are subject to price freeze even prior to the declaration of a state of calamity in Luzon islands.
Dimagiba blamed the Department of Trade and Industry and the local price monitoring councils in strictly enforcing the price freeze.
“They failed to enforce the price freeze data set for agri products. Enforcement was feeble. December will continue with higher inflation as consumers buys more and the price freeze remain not complied,” he said.
He urged that all stakeholders in the supply chain must e included to sustain an honest to goodness price freeze, “Otherwise consumers will continue, as they did the past 2 weeks, to flock to Divisoria and Baclaran for cheaper goods, unless the Big Boys, or the major players in the industires drop prices.”
Meanwhile, LKI in a Viber message on December 2, 2020 has called the attention of Energy Undersecretary William Fuentebella on the increases in kerosene prices of P0.30 per liter last November 24. For December 1, 2020, LKI also observed that Petron and Seaoil implemented a P1.10 per liter increase.
Likewise, LKI said that Petron implemented an increase of P0.96 per kg for Household ( HH ) LPG and P0.54 for auto LPG while Solane deferred the increase to Dec. 3, 2020.
LKI has urged for a rollback in prices and to slapped these oil firms with penalties for violating Presidential Proclamation 1051, which placed the entire island of Luzon under a state of calamity due to the typhoons.
In addition, Dimagiba said that LKI will “intervene as an Oppositor in ERC approval for P0.1881 per kilowatt hour Feed in Tariff Allowance ( FIT-ALL) as this is a threat for further higher inflation.