Customers purchase goods at a supermarket in Manila om February 16, 2023. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will remove some products from the list of basic and prime commodities with suggested retail prices (SRP).

DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual says these include: 

Categories 
1. Salt
2. Candles
3. Bottled water
4. Vinegar, Patis, Soy sauce
5. Battery

Sub-Categories
1. Condensed milk, condensada, evaporada, evaporated milk under the processed milk category
2. Coffee refill under the coffee category

The DTI has convened a technical working group to finalize the list of products that will be removed from the SRP list.

There are also suggestions to revise the SRP bulletin into a price guide, given the findings by the World Bank and the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the SRP bulletin is anti-competitive.

But Trade Undersecretary Amanda Nograles clarified that while these products are going to be removed from the SRP list, the government will still monitor prices of these goods.

According to Nograles, manufacturers are still obliged to file with the DTI any plan to hike the prices of these basic and prime commodities.

SUPERMARKETS WANT TO DO AWAY WITH SRP

But supermarket group Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association (PAGASA) says the government must remove the SRP list altogether and let market competition prevail.

When asked if this will not result in rising prices of basic goods, PAGASA Executive Director Steven Cua says manufacturers will compete and would not want to lose market share.