THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) continues its monitoring on the sale of Christmas lights, an official of the agency in the province said yesterday, December 2.

Rachel Nufable, DTI-Negros Occidental provincial director urged the public to buy Christmas lights bearing Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) sticker and Philippine Standard (PS) marks.

Nufable said they have been doing rounds in several stores and so far, none are selling Christmas lights with ICC stickers and PS marks.

Meanwhile, she said that the prices of some of the noche buena (midnight diner before Christmas) items in the market have slightly increased based on the monitoring they have conducted.

However, Nufable explained that the costs of these products are still within the allowed suggested retail price of the DTI.

These products include fruit cocktail, queso de bola kag pasta among others which according to Nufable have increased by at least ten percent compared to last year.

The DTI official also clarified that the noche buena products are not considered as basic or prime commodities which means they cannot impose violation on stores increasing the prices of these items.

Nufable noted that the SRP issued for the noche buena products is only a guide for the consumers to choose the brands which suits their budget.