GMA checks prices of school supplies

Prices of basic school supplies will remain low in Divisoria compared with those sold in more upscale malls, President Arroyo said yesterday as she paid a visit to the busy commercial district in Manila a few weeks before classes open.

"At the mall, where the rich go, don’t expect the price of a notebook to be P8.50. At the mall the price of a notebook is P11.50 because it is air-conditioned and for the rich. But here, for ordinary citizens, it is P8.50," she said in Filipino.

Mrs. Arroyo said that aside from notebook prices remaining pegged at P8.50, the prices of pencils, crayons and erasers had not increased in the last three years.

"It will be the same this year, the prices will not go up," she said, reassuring the public that prices of school supplies would remain stable until the end of the year.

The President inspected school supply outlets in the Divisoria area where leading manufacturers reaffirmed their commitment to freeze prices at current levels.

Among them were Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. president Francis Chua, Philippine School Pads and Notebooks Manufacturers Association president Victor Que, Philippine Stationeries Association president Eddie Chua, and Divisoria Organized Sidewalk Vendors Association president Freddie Reyes.

Earlier, Trade Secretary Juan Santos was able to secure the commitment of school suppliers to keep the prices of such basic items as pad paper, pencils, ballpoint pens, notebooks, crayons and others at their old levels.

Mrs. Arroyo also promised that government monitors would keep tabs on the prices of school supplies to ensure that retailers do not take advantage and raise them indiscriminately when school opens.

"Local government, the private sector, the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Vice President Noli ‘Kabayan’ de Castro, as overall coordinator, will monitor and ensure that prices of school supplies will remain stable," she said.

The President was welcomed and joined in Divisoria by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, third district Rep. Miles Roces, Education Undersecretary Ramon Bacani, DTI Undersecretary Zeny Maglaya and CHED acting chairman Carlito Puno.