Consumers urged to monitor prices when buying Noche Buena items

CEBU, Philippines — With the release of the 2024 Noche Buena Price Guide (NBPC), the Department of Trade and Industry in Central Visayas (DTI)-7 advises all shoppers not to overlook price discrepancies when shopping.

DTI-7 chief of the Consumer Protection Division, Joy Suralta, highlighted that consumers have the right to pay the price indicated on the price tag, even if the price registered at the cash register is different.

“Kung naka encounter mo nga ang price sa estante minus kaysa adto sa cashier, you have to insist na you pay what is in the price tag not on the register kay mao jud na siya ang balaod,” said Suralta.

In DTI’s price guide, there are 236 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) of essential holiday items, including ham, queso de bola, fruit cocktail, cheese, sandwich spread, all-purpose cream, mayonnaise, pasta, elbow and salad macaroni, tomato and spaghetti sauce.

The price guide aims to prevent instances of overpricing, so that consumers are not taken advantage of when purchasing Christmas products.

The advisory also states the price guide is effective until December 31, 2024.

Suralta said that major supermarkets in the region are already compliant with the released price guide.

The prices of goods vary widely with ham ranging from P170 to P928.50, and queso de bola priced between P210.00 and P445.00.

For those who will be making salads, the price of fruit cocktails is between P61.76 to PHP 302.50, while cheese prices range from P56.50 to P310.00.

Additional ingredients like mayonnaise are available from P20.40 to P245.85, and all-purpose cream prices range from P36.50 to P72.00.

In terms of other Christmas dishes and other related ingredients, prices for sandwich spread range from P27.00 to PHP 263.60; pasta from P32.00 to P114.00; elbow macaroni from P30.50 to P126.25; tomato sauce from P16.50 to P92.85; salad macaroni from P36.50 to P126.25; and spaghetti sauce from P28.50 to P103.00.

Suralta said that the DTI-7 through their Fair Trade and Enforcement Bureau have instructed some markets to remove old stock items from the shelves to ensure compliance with the latest price guide.

When asked about the availability of these products due to its high demands on holidays, the DTI-7 has assured consumers that there is sufficient supply of Noche Buena items across the region.

“Base sa among monitoring daghan rajud siya base sa among SKUs, sa ham palang daan 29 na ka SKUs… So daghan silag kapilian,” said Suralta.

Moreover, Suralta also clarified that for retailers to offer discounts, promotions, or bundled offers, they must first apply for a sales promotion permit with the agency.

The permit requires retailers to provide detailed information about the discounts they plan to offer, in order to ensure that what they are offering to the public adhere to fair pricing practices.

All the prices listed under the price guide are final and were committed by retailers and even manufacturers. –/ATO (FREEMAN)