The regional office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has assured consumers that supply of processed food items is stable.
During a virtual presser last week, DTI Region 11 Regional Director Maria Belenda Ambi said that during their monitoring of supermarkets, there was enough supply of manufactured and processed goods
Ambi said there is no reason for consumer to go into panic-buying. “As far as manufactured–katung processed, maka-assure sila nga naay enough supply (ug) dili (sila) mahutdan,” she said.
“Ma-assure nato nga naay supply kay during monitoring, aside sa price nga tan-awon nato, gina-check pud namo ang mga establishments kung naa ba’y sufficient supply nga maka-cover sa paningahanglan sa mga konsumante and they asssured us na wala man pud problema daw sa supply.”
She also added that although they can assure the supply of processed goods, the same can’t be said of fresh agricultural products like poultry and other kinds of meat.
“Ang dili lang siguro nato ma-assure is katong mga agricultural kay siyempre, (it) depends on the availability sa farms so kana siya medyo dili gyud nato ma-assure.” she said.
The one monitoring the supply of agricultural goods is the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The DTI, DA, and Food and Drug Administration are working with the National Bureau of Investigation and local government units to monitor markets during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ambi urged consumers not to buy in bulk or hoard goods because it disrupts the supply of the markets and it would cause shortages.
At this point, she said, there is already an abnormality in supply of personal protective equipment and manufacturers are having a hard time responding to the nationwide demand. She said that she hopes that it won’t happen to manufactured goods as well.
To regulate the purchasing of goods, DTI released the Memorandum Circular no. 20-07 where consumers are encouraged to buy products that are good for seven days in order to maintain the supply and prevent profiteering and hoarding.
Ambi added that as long as people are not panic buying or going beyond their buying capacity, there is no need to worry on the supply of manufactured goods.
