THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has announced the prices of the Noche Buena products have gone up but assured the consumers that the increase is within the suggested retail price (SRP).
Consumer Protection Division chief Rowena Divinagracia clarified the increase in price reflects the new SRP as of October 31 and that as of their monitoring, markets and stores in the city are selling Noche Buena commodities within, and sometimes below, the set price ranges.
"More or less, we can say there is an increase on the SRP but in all the prevailing market price, they are all within the SRP," Divinagracia said.
Noche Buena staples being monitored by the DTI include ham, pasta products, spaghetti sauce, cheese, and creamers.
Divinagracia said that as of the October 31 SRP, ham, depending on size, ranges from P160 to P409.
For pasta products, SRP ranges from P52.25 to P87.65, for elbow and salad macaroni from P20 to P88, for spaghetti sauce from P22.75 to P74.20, and for tomato sauce from P12.25 to P78.25.
For fruit cocktails, the SRP can range from P51.20 to P239.40. Cheese products have SRP ranging from P49.50 to P269.50.
Divinagracia said the SRP for creamers ranges from P55 to P75 while sandwich spreads range from P28 to P158.50.
She said the mayonnaise has SRP range of P28 to 283.
Basic and prime commodities, meanwhile, posted no increase and are being sold within the SRP, she added. (VoxPop Zamboanga)