MARCOS TELLS GOV'T: PROTECT THE PUBLIC AGAINST HIGH PRICES; STOP RAPID CHANGES OF PRIME COMMODITY PRICES

SENATOR Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. said the government should take concrete steps to solve the chronic problem of high commodity prices.

Marcos, member of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, said that parallel to keeping the prices of consumer goods at affordable levels, the government should also address the frequent up-and-down movement of prices.

"It is very clear that we need to address the problem of rapid changes prime commodity process side by side with our efforts to keep the costs of products at an affordable level," he said in a statement.

This way, he said, the consumers will be protected by a system that is applicable and reliable at all times, especially during an economic crisis.

Marcos reminded the government to come up with a remedy to unstable prices as he warned of an impending upward price movement caused by scarce market supplies during the rainy season.

"We should expect that supplies of agricultural products will not be sufficient because deliveries will be delayed by rains. Also, crops are being destroyed by typhoons even before harvest. In both cases, the supply is scarce, which pushes up the prices," he said.

He said the government should come up with a system that will stabilize prices and control their movement.

"I think we need to institutionalize a system to slow down the rapid increase or changes in prices. We need to stabilize the prices, which is equally important as maintaining them at a low level," Marcos said.