Business notes
Media
Part of The Republic
- Title
- Business notes
- Language
- English
- Source
- The Republic Volume I (No. 2) 1-15 October 1975
- Year
- 1975
- Rights
-
- Fulltext
- 1-15 October. 1975 7 The Economy Tightening the lid on prices A COMBINATION of public discon tent and Presidential action initiated this month decreases in the prices of edible oil and infant food. In the case of infant food, a hike in the price ceil ings a few weeks ago raised public crit icisms and a Presidential order for the lowering of the ceilings. In the case of edible oil, the ex pressed public wish for lowering of prices stimulated a study of the costs of packaging oil. It was found out that under the system of canning oil, the cost of containers (tinplates) amounted to 50% of the edible oil’s price as sold. The “dip-out” system was finally adopted to rid the customer of con tainer costs. In this system, the buyers bring their own containers. The oil is measured out from drum containers which, by an order of the Price Stabili zation Council (PSC), are provided by all coconut oil refiners, with domestic sales, for all public and private markets all over the Philippines. For a kilo of edible oil, the highest retail prices are: 1) for the Greater Manila area, P3.20; 2) for Northern Luzon, Bicol, Visayas (Group I), P3.38; 3) for all Mindanao provinces (Group II), P3.44. For oil weighing less than one kilo, the PSC has price ceilings for what certain ties, like soft-drink bottles, can hold. For the decrease of the price ceil ings of infant dietetics, the manufac turers and importers had to sacrifice a little. The ihanufacturers petitioned for price increases because of the increase of tinplate (container) costs and the rise of the exchange rate. But by Presi dential order the PSC restudied the pe tition and asked the manufacturers not to charge to buyers the costs of return ed or defective goods. Such costs, the PSC maintained, could be minimized by more efficient production and distribu tion. The PSC also limited promotional expenses to cover only directly related events, ‘and the giving out of samples was limited to nurseries and hospitals. Will there be further decreases in the prices of milk? Luis Suzara of the PSC says that further decreases are im probable since prices are at a minimum. On the other hand, the cost of tinplates (which is 12 percent of the price of pow der dietetics and 25 percent of liquid . dietetics) and the foreign exchange rate may cause increases. How can consumers report violators of the price standards? Violators can be reported to the local Price Stabiliza tion Council which is empowered to temporarily close the establishments of offenders; or he can send a telegram to the National Price Stabilization Council, Department of Trade, Quezon City. Every province and city should have a prize stabilization council. That of a province is chairmanned by the provin cial governor and that of a city, by the mayor. For municipalities, mayors are encouraged to form stabilization coun cils, especially if their towns are active commercial centers. According to Suza ra of the PSC, the existence of a mun icipal price control council is a sign of the mayor’s depth of involvement in the community’s welfare. How much are the maximum pro fits allowed by the Price Stabilization Council? In the lease of locally manu factured items, producers may sell at production cost plus a mark-up of ten percent; wholesalers may sell at the net cost of acquisition from the producer plus a mark-up of five percent; the re tailer may sell at the net cost of acquisi tion from the producer or the manufac turer plus a mark-up of ten percent. In the case of imported articles, the maxi mum price of the importer shall be land ed cost plus five percent; the maximum price of the retailer shall be the net cost of acquisition plus ten percent. Besides retailers, wholesalers may jack up their prices unreasonably. In thi/ case, a retailer can report the anom aly to the local or national prize stabil ization council. -MARCOS AG AYO Bumper harvest: winning the race between rice and men. NO RICE SHORTAGE; GOV'T EXPANDS AGRI AID THE PHILIPPINES has ample amount of rice reserves this year totalling more than 3.3 million bags, National Grains Administrator Jesus Tanchanco Jr. said today. He said this year’s rice reserves increased by 6.68 percent over last year’s buffer stock of some 3.1 million bags. According to Tanchanco, in fiscal year 1974-75, cereal supply and prices were stabilized. As a result of this stability, he said, rice and corn were continuously avail able to consumers at prices within their reach. He added that fanners’ interest was enhanced by way of the govern ment’s price support program which as sured them of a ready market for their produce and a fair return on their in vestment. This year, Tanchanco added, also marked the expansion of the cor porate farming program, warehousing projects, the establishment of adequate post-harvest facilities, and the extension of technology throughout the country. THE GOLDEN LEAF GROWS PRESIDENT Marcos has announced a series of actions intended to increase Virginia tobacco production in the north and at the same time -improve its posi tion in the export market. He directed the Central Bank to make available to the Virginia tobacco growers an initial amount of P20 mil lion, through the rural banks to help the farmers increase their production and enable them to construct more flue curing barns. Trading centers in Ilocos Norte, llocos Sur, La Union and Abra reported a trade volume from March to July of 33,359,001.1 kilos which are valued at P297,246,211.90. Prices have signifi cantly risen from P5.86 per kilo in 1974 to P8.09 today. The President expressed satisfaction over the policy enunciated by the gov ernment removing the subsidy on to bacco. Looking at the performance of the tobacco industry following the re moval of that subsidy, the President de scribed the pplicy a “success”. TARGET: SELF-SUFFICIENCY PRESIDENT Marcos has urged the peo ple to utilize wisely and efficiently the country’s abundant natural resources “so that the country can not only feed its population, but also produce enough to help meet the needs of others.” The President said “it is with this objective in mind that we have conceived and are implementing our total food production program.” The President made the remarks at the inaugural ceremonies of the country’s first national food factory exposition at the Philamlife pavilion at United Nations Avenue in Manila. He added that the significance of the food exposition borders on the antici pation of broader and sustained public and private support for the national food production program. While “we are a country often de scribed in economic books as food de ficit country,” the President said, “we cannot completely deny its truth.” “Despite significant advances in re cent years,” the President said, “our production has not reached a level of stability that allows the economy to feed the entire population at all times. FISCAL INCENTIVES REVIEW Presidential Decree 776 creates the Fiscal Incentives Review Board with the power to review all subsidies and tax exemptions and to determine which of them should be modified, withdrawn, revoked or suspended in the light of in ternatioqal and local developments. Ac cording to President Marcos, it is deemed imperative to harmonize incentives with the ability to manufacture goods domestically and to conserve govern ment foreign exchange reserves. NEWSYSTEM FOR SEAMEN THE National Seamen Board (NSB) said it has adopted a simplified clear ance system for the travel abroad of Filipino seamen. NSB Executive Director Cresencio M. Siddayao said the procedure makes possible the issuance of a passport to a seaman within 24 hours. Before this, the issuance of travel clearances to seamen was a time-consuming process. The clearance procedure used to start only after all hiring and place ment processes were completed.
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