THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Negros Occidental is strengthening its collaboration with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in running after erring online sellers of medical supplies especially alcohol and mask amid the pressing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) woes.
DTI-Negros Occidental officials and personnel led by officer-in-charge provincial director Rachel Nufable met with representatives of NBI-Bacolod at their office in the city yesterday.
They also met with the personnel of CIDG-Negros Occidental and CIDG-Bacolod last week.
Nufable said they tackled the guidelines on the implementation of the prevailing 60-day price freeze particularly the ceiling that should be followed by retail establishments.
“We are strengthening our collaboration with these law enforcement agencies to ensure that consumers are protected especially during this time of crisis,” she added.
On March 8, President Rodrigo Duterte declared a state of public health emergency in the entire country due to Covid-19.
Following this, a 60-day automatic price control (APC) especially among basic necessities took effect.
Aside from basic goods, other products covered by the price freeze included drugs and other medical supplies like face masks and alcohol classified as essential by the Department of Health (DOH).
For masks, the price should be within the ceiling of P3 to P12 while that for alcohol should range from P17.25 to P74.25 depending on brands and net weight.
The DTI, in a memorandum, said online selling of any of these emergency medical supplies that are beyond the price ceiling are prohibited.
Any seller who commits any act of illegal price manipulation or violation of the Price Act shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to P2 million, it said.
For online transactions, the agency has been urging consumers to patronize online seller with DTI or Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration and mayor’s permit.
Online sellers that have no business permit and are overpricing face masks, alcohol and medical supplies which are under price freeze may be reported to the NBI and Philippine National Police (PNP).
Engiemar Tupas, officer-in-charge industry development division of DTI-Negros Occidental, said they have been receiving reports on overpriced masks and alcohol that are sold online.
Tupas said they then initially warned these local online sellers and advised them to take down their posts.
“Some of these online sellers, however, continued to sell overpriced products,” he said, adding that as of yesterday, March 23, they received at least three complaints against online sellers from cities of Bacolod, San Carlos and Kabankalan.
For alcohol, for instance, these online sellers sell the products from P500 to P1,000 which are more than triple the ceiling prices.
“Some of the products sold online are even adulterated as these have no brands and labels,” Tupas said.
These complaints were already forwarded to the NBI and CIDG, he added.