The Department of Trade and Industry issued today, July 25, a new Suggested Retail Prices (SRP) for school supplies, adjusting by a wide range prices of notebooks, pad paper, writing materials, crayons, erasers, ballpoint pens, rulers, and sharpeners. The latest SRP Bulletin “Gabay sa Pamimili ng School Supplies” was released to serve as guide to consumers as the school opening is just around the corner. The Price Act (RA7581) classifies school supplies as prime commodities. The new SRP adjusted the last SRP on school supplies issued a year ago on August 12, 2022. The DTI noted that while the price of some items has remained the same, the price of others may increase due to the impact of the global increase in the cost of basic materials on the price of school supplies. “While prices of some products have remained unaffected by recent market trends, other school supplies saw price increases. This is primarily due to increased global cost of basic raw materials,” said DTI Consumer Protection Group (CPG) Undersecretary, Atty. Ruth B. Castelo The biggest adjustment, ranging from 22 percent to 54 percent, were registered in the prices of ballpoint pens, grade pads, and notebooks, depending on the brands, make, and volume, compared to the last SRP bulletin. Premiere Notes, a new notebook brand for notebooks provided by NBS, are priced P28.00 (writing and composition), P29.00 (spiral), and P30.00 (yarn). Specifically, notebook prices range from P23.00 to P52.00, while Grades 1-4 pad paper prices vary from P21.00 to P28.00. Intermediate pad paper, on the other hand, costs from P31.00 to P48.75.00. Prices of writing materials such as pencils and ballpoint pens range from P11.00 to P17.00, and from P9.75 to P19.00, respectively. Depending on the brand, consumers may purchase a box of crayons with eight colors for as low as P12.00 to as high as P34.00 while the price of a 16-color pack varies from P24.00 to P69.00. Notably, there were reduction in the prices of ballpoint pens, 16-color and 24-color Crayons sets, and steady prices for 12-color Crayons, and pencil (writing material). For Ballpen, price of AMSPEC Jot Pen (3pcs/pack) decreased by six percent, or P1.50, from P25.50 to P24.00 compared last year. For crayons prices of Li’l Hands 16 set and 24 set both went down by one percent or P0.25 from P30.00 to P29.75 and P38.00 to P37.75, respectively. The 12-color Crayons set maintained its P32 per set price, while a pack of three pencils also retained its P18 to P33 price per pack since August last year. Meanwhile, an eraser at small, medium, and large sizes, has a price range from P4.50 to P20.00. Sharpeners and rulers are priced at P18.00 – P69.00 and P22.00 – P27.75.00, respectively. Atty. M. Marcus N. Valdez II, Director of the DTI Consumer Policy and Advocacy Bureau, emphasized, “The DTI is closely coordinating with the manufacturers of school supplies to ensure that prices are reasonable and supply is sufficient in the market.” In this year's SRP, DTI said three school supplies producer/manufacturer and one retailer that provided information on prices of school supplies:  Times Trading Co., Inc. (TTCI), Amalgamated Specialties Corporation (AMSPEC), and  Pandayan Bookshop (PBS).