Senator Francis Tolentino urged businesses to be considerate of consumers especially this Christmas season by not increasing the prices of products.
Tolentino also said companies should think of prioritizing their social responsibilities and not impose price increases that might be “too high” for consumers.
Tolentino made the appeal following a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers Philippines (PwC) which said that one possible mitigating measure of companies to combat high inflation is to make prices higher.
Earlier, Roderick Danao, PwC chairman also said inflationary threats may mean prices of “noche buena” goods such as Christmas hams would rise. “That’s a big probability. If a product is in demand or will peak, and there’s an imbalance of supply, a price adjustment will happen,” Danao said.
Filipinos must also cope with costlier basic goods such as “sili” or local chilies, which now cost from P500 to P720 per kilo in local markets after recent storms flattened farms and ruined crops, PwC also said.
While Danao clarified that this is only a possibility, he did not deny that consumers will bear the brunt of price hikes.
Citing the data of PwC which said the Philippines is the 24th largest consumer economy in the world with 70% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) driven by consumption, Tolentino said: “You were the one who said it’s consumer-driven. If we don’t have the consumers, we cannot expect our economy to rebound.”
For Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, the rise in prices of goods and services is being triggered by the spikes in fuel prices.
“We are a net importer which means many of our raw materials used in making food, and our basic needs are imported. So that if prices increased in other countries, we can feel it here,” Gatchalian said. He further said he believes that putting a price cap is not the solution to high prices.