Bizmen warned not to hike prices of goods

THE provincial government warned commercial establishments and local traders not to jack up prices of basic commodities especially in typhoon-stricken northern Cebu.

Since Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III’s declaration placing the whole province under calamity status is still in effect, a price freeze applies to all basic commodities, Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said.

“No, they cannot do that because we are still in a state of calamity. You can be jailed if you’re proven doing that,” she told reporters yesterday. Magpale said she has yet to receive reports of price increases in the affected areas.

But in Medellin town, northern Cebu prices of a few staple food products went up in the local market. A kilo of fish which cost P180 before the typhoon now sells at P250 to P300 depending on its “freshness,” a source who requested anonymity said.

A gallon of purified drinking water costs P45 from its previous price of P25. But a liter of gasoline is still P55, the same source said./Correspondent Peter L. Romanillos