CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is working to support micro-enterprises affected by Super Typhoon Karding.
Dr. Richard Simangan, provincial director of DTI in Nueva Ecija, said on Thursday that some 24 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were initially listed to receive the government assistance.
Simangan said among those who need help are the vendors in Gapan City whose stalls were destroyed, and juice producers whose calamansi trees were felled by the typhoon.
He noted that DTI had also extended millions of pesos worth of assistance through business starter kits to a number of people at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the agency has imposed a price freeze on various basic goods in line with the decision of the provincial government to place Nueva Ecija under a state of calamity due to the massive devastation caused by "Karding."
Romeo Eusebio Faronilo, head of the DTI-Nueva Ecija consumer protection division, said as per monitoring, there was enough supply of "basic necessities and prime commodities" in public markets and supermarkets in this city.
Despite the damage to several infrastructures, all public markets in the province are operational based on a report from the Nueva Ecija League of Market Administrators, Inc. (NELMA) and Nueva Ecija Consumer Affairs Advocacy Association. (PNA)
