A House leader wants the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to strictly monitor the prices of noche buena items amid the holiday season.

For this purpose, House Committee on Social Services Vice Chairman and Quezon City 5th district Rep. PM Vargas filed House Resolution (HR) No.612 as he appealed to manufacturers and sellers to observe the recommended price ceilings for basic commodities.

Noche buena is the traditional post-midnight or early morning meal that Filipinos partake of on Christmas day.

“As we expect the increase in demand for noche buena goods and basic necessities due to the holiday season, it is imperative that prices of such commodities are regulated under the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, to help Filipino consumers while also protecting the rights and income of manufacturers and sellers,” Vargas said in his resolution.

The DTI had requested manufacturers of noche buena products last September to limit their price increase on these products to a maximum of 10 percent of the base price.

In its recently published Noche Buena Price Guide, the DTI has reported that 195 out of 223 noche buena products have raised prices with nearly half increasing their prices by more than 10 percent.

Vargas also highlighted that government must ensure the “just regulation” of prices of goods to alleviate the burden of Filipinos especially this holiday season and in the spirit of "bayanihan and malasakit (cooperation and compassion)"

A similar resolution was filed in the 18th Congress by Vargas’s brother and predecessor, incumbent Quezon City Councilor Alfred Vargas, in response to last year’s skyrocketing prices of basic goods.

“While we slowly recover from the pandemic thanks to innovative fiscal and economic reforms being rolled out by the current administration, both producers and consumers must work together and be united to face these challenges especially amid the holidays,” Vargas added.