PRICE MONITORING. A personnel of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) checks the rice prices in a market in Valencia City, Bukidnon. The Police Regional Office in Northern Mindanao on Wednesday (Sept. 6, 2023) committed to help other agencies like DTI in the awareness drive on the newly imposed Executive Order No. 39, which set a price ceiling on rice prices. (Photo courtesy of DTI-10)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Police Regional Office in Northern Mindanao (PRO-10) joined Wednesday the information dissemination drive on the new directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on the rice price ceiling.
Brig. Gen. Lawrence Coop, the PRO-10 director, said all police personnel in the region will help disseminate to the public about the President’s Executive Order (EO) No. 39, which mandates price ceilings on rice prices nationwide.
"We are now working closely with the Department of Agriculture (DA)-10 and relevant agencies to prevent any unjust price hikes or unfair practices related to rice sales,” Coop said in a statement.
Under EO 39, regular milled rice should be priced at PHP41.00 per kilogram, while well-milled rice at PHP45.00 per kilogram.
Coop said PRO-10 is fully committed to supporting the DA and the Department of Trade and Industry-10 in ensuring the immediate and effective enforcement of the order.
“We encourage our rice dealers and retailers to adhere to the provisions of EO 39 to avoid facing penalties as stated in R.A. (Republic Act) 7581, which include imprisonment of 1 to 10 years and fines ranging from PHP5,000 to PHP1 million, he said.
Meanwhile, DTI-10 said that as of Wednesday, regular and well-milled rice in select public markets in Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, and Misamis Oriental, were found compliant with the prescribed price ceiling range.
In a separate statement Wednesday, DTI-10 reported that a retailer in Camiguin has committed to comply with the price ceiling requirement and to impose a purchase quantity limit of five kilograms per person.
In Caraga Region, the Police Regional Office (PRO-13) said it will help the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry in the area in the enforcement of EO 39.
“The PRO-13 has already directed all police units in the region to work with the lead agencies to ensure the effective and efficient enforcement of EO 39 issued by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.,” PRO-13 director, Brig. Gen. Kirby John Kraft, said in a statement Wednesday.
PRO-13 units will also provide support to the monitoring activities of the DA-13 and DTI-13 in the different provinces in the region, Kraft said.
Meanwhile, Kurt Chino Montero, DTI-13 chief of the Consumer Protection Division, said simultaneous monitoring activities were launched in the provinces on Tuesday and found out that most rice traders and retailers in the region failed to comply with the price cap.
“Most of the traders and retailers said they were not informed about the EO. We understand that EO 39 took effect five days after its issuance and that may be the reason our traders and retailers still lack information on the new directive,” Montero said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
He said EO 39 is a regulatory measure "that will benefit our consumers” and that the agency will work "hand-in-hand" with the DA-13 on an information dissemination drive to raise public awareness of the President's directive. (PNA)
