Tolentino asks businesses not to raise prices of goods 'too high' this Christmas season
By Dhel Nazario
Senator Francis “Tol” Tolentino urged businesses on Saturday, Sept. 16 to be more considerate to consumers when it votes to pricing their products, especially this Christmas season.
In a statement, Tolentino said that this can be done by avoiding steep product pricing.
“Ang ma-underscore ay yung social responsibility ng mga kumpanya. Huwag naman masyadong taasan ang presyo dahil papasok na ang Christmas season, para na rin sa ating mga consumer, ating mga mamimili (This is to underscore social responsibility of companies. As Christmas season comes in, prices of products should not be too high for our consumers),” Tolentino said in his weekly DZRH program on Saturday.
This comes after the pronouncement of Pwc Philippines Chairman Roderic Danao that one possible mitigating measure for companies amid high inflation is to jack up prices.
But Danao didn't deny that consumers will bear the brunt of price hikes should companies go with this option.
Citing the data of PwC, the Philippines is the 24th largest consumer economy in the world with 70 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) driven by consumption.
"Kayo na po ang nagsabi na consumer-driven. Kung wala ang ating mga consumers, wala rin ang ine-expect na pag-rebound ng ating ekonomiya (You said that the country is consumer-driven. If there will be no consumers, there will no expected rebound with the economy),” Tolentino explained.