MANILA - Prices of "noche buena" products have risen this year based on the trade department's price guide, with the cost of hams and mayonnaise having the steepest hikes compared to last year.

Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said the price guide, released earlier today, is just the current price range of these holiday products in the market and is not the suggested retail price.

Castelo said they understood the reason why some manufacturers had to increase their prices, considering the higher cost of production, but she appealed to them to just raise their prices at the minimum.

"Ito yung current na binebenta, current presyo na binebenta sa merkado. Ang range ng pagtaas niya compared to 2021 is 10 percent, mayroong pinakamalaking 27 percent depende sa produkto," Castelo said in a televised briefing.

"'Yung apela natin sa kanila, tuloy-tuloy na kung puwede, ang increases nila ay absolute minimum lang, yung hindi sila malugi. Ayaw din naman natin na malugi ang mga gumagawa nito pero hindi ganoon kabigat para sa consumers," she added.

The guide will help consumers to choose different variants of the products, most especially those who want to choose the low-end for now.

Here's the DTI's price guide for noche buena items:

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Video from PTV