THE Cebu Provincial Government is set to institutionalize a comprehensive price monitoring mechanism, aiming to consolidate public market prices across its local municipalities. This initiative is being spearheaded by Gov. Pamela Baricuatro, who has issued an executive order (EO) to establish local price monitoring committees for the province.
Aldwin Empaces, the Capitol’s assistant provincial administrator, explained in an interview on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, that the Province’s role will be to “consolidate prices… That becomes a price monitoring mechanism in the entire province.”
Empaces recently attended a conference with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at the Capitol, where the national agency expressed its long-standing goal to activate such price monitoring committees across local government units (LGUs).
He noted that while these committees are already functional in highly urbanized cities like Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Cebu City, they are “not yet activated or functional” in many other LGUs.
“We spoke with DTI, they said they’ve wanted this for a long time. It’s already happening in Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Cebu City, but in other LGUs, it’s not yet very active or functional,” he explained, translating his previous statement for clarity.
The Provincial Government’s objective is to institutionalize this functionality in component cities such as Toledo City and Bogo, and then extend it throughout the province.
Empaces expressed optimism that recommendations and guidelines for the program would be submitted by Monday, July 14, allowing the governor to move forward with its implementation.
“That’s a best way that, somehow, our reporting is data-driven, not guesswork,” he said, emphasizing the goal of providing accurate and reliable price information. The monitoring will cover all products available in the markets, aligning with the DTI’s mandate.
Empaces pointed out that price information is often only available at the national level, with reports like “this is the price in Quezon City, this is the price.”
“But we don’t have something that’s our own,” he said, citing that the provincial initiative aims to fill this gap.
He said that this push for price transparency is also linked to Baricuatro’s EO on Freedom of Information, which she signed on her first day in office on July 1. This EO, one of 12 immediate priorities of her administration, promotes transparency and accountability in public service by advocating for people’s free access to accurate information and data. / JPS