The Sanguniang Panlungsod has approved a resolution requesting the City Mayor Darlene Magnolia R. Antonino-Custodio to activate the General Santos City Price Coordinating Council for the conduct of inspection and monitoring of prices of basic and prime commodities at all retail stores and public markets in the city, and to put up a consumers telephone hotline within the city hall complex.
This was in reaction to the series of fuel price increases resulting from the political and civil unrests in Libya, Yemen, Syria and other oil-producing countries which triggered recent increases in the prices of certain basic goods and prime commodities in this country.
“Food price stability and food security issues have become primordial concerns as the situation may worsen into a food crisis caused by unauthorized price increases and illegal trade practices like hoarding of goods,” the resolution stressed, adding that “there is an urgent need to undertake measures to address and mitigate hoarding and exorbitant price increases of essential and prime commodities, and provide dependable safety nets for consumers and guarantee that prices of consumer goods kept at reasonable levels.”
It had been noted that the fixed-income groups in the city, especially the great mass of wage earners, are “facing difficulty adjusting to the new realities and may experience serious problems in providing food supplies for their respective families, “ the resolution concluded. [CPIO/Ping Aponesto]
