BARMM orders price freeze of basic goods after heavy flooding

FILE PHOTO: The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) seat of government is located in Cotabato City. Photo by Bong Sarmiento

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has ordered a price freeze for basic goods across the region following the heavy flooding that displaced thousands of people, prompting officials to place the region under a state of calamity.

“We are closely coordinating with other government agencies, manufacturers, and retailers to ensure availability and continuous supply of basic goods in the market,” said Hussein Biruar, director of the Bureau of Trade and Industry under the BARMM’s Ministry of Trade, Investments, and Tourism (MTIT), the lead agency implementing the price freeze order.

Republic Act 7581, also known as the Price Act of the Philippines, dictates that “prices of basic necessities are automatically frozen at their prevailing prices for 60 days once a state of calamity is declared in an area.”

The products under the prize freeze included canned fish, locally manufactured instant noodles, bottled water, bread, processed milk, coffee, candles, laundry soap, detergent, and salt.

Aside from grocery stores, the MTIT also warned small stores and retailers to refrain from selling basic goods more than the specified prices.

So far, no major price hike has been noted among grocery stores in a random survey conducted among traders in Cotabato City, the capital of BARMM.

Prices of 155-gram canned sardines remained between P25 to P30, while sugar fetches at P75-P80 per kilo, cooking oil at P145 per 950 ml bottles, 12 oz bottled water at P20, dressed chicken at P160 to P170 per kilo, while prices of rice and corn grain remained stable at an average of P35 to P40 per kilo.

Biruar urged consumers to report to MTIT offices in the region and in the provinces of Basilan, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi violators of the price freeze.

“We are reminding the retailers that there should be no price movement on these goods while the price freeze is in effect,” Biruar said, adding that penalties awaited traders who would violate the freeze order.

As of Wednesday, August 31, a total of 76,000 families, or 380,000 individuals, have been displaced by the heavy flooding that occurred in the component areas of the BARMM, according to the region’s Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD).

READ: BARMM under state of calamity for 2 months due to massive floods

Even as the floods have already receded in most areas, the MSSD and BARMM Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (READi) have mobilized humanitarian teams to extend aid to affected households. Each family was given 25 kilos of rice, various canned goods, and non-food items as initial relief, the agency said.

MSSD disaster response management division chief Hasim Guiamel reported that his agency had distributed 25,208 food packets to flood victims.

Massive floods submerged at least 13 of Maguindanao’s 36 towns after persistent rains started in the last week of July.

Floods also inundated most of the 63 villages within the BARMM’s Special Geographic Area, 20 of the 36 villages in Cotabato City, parts of Lanao del Sur, and 105 villages in 13 towns of Maguindanao.

The BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim has issued Proclamation No. 0003 in response to the severe flooding. The entire area has been in crisis since August 18. BARMM is comprised of six provinces: Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi; and three cities: Cotabato, Marawi, and Lamitan.