Market monitoring agencies face growing pressure to dismantle illegal price manipulation networks from the top down as statutory price caps activate in disaster zones affected by super El Niño.
Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan urged enforcement authorities to move beyond frontline vendors and focus investigations on major hoarders, profiteers, and cartels seeking to exploit agricultural supply shortages.
“I call on implementing agencies, local price councils, and law enforcement authorities to gather evidence and pursue criminal and administrative cases, where warranted, against those responsible for illegal price manipulation. Enforcement must not end with frontline sellers. We must target the very top,” said Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform.
The Senate agriculture chief directed the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, and the Price Coordinating Council to enforce market monitoring and recommend mandatory price ceilings to protect consumers.
Pangilinan reminded regulators that under Section 6 of RA 7581, or the Price Act, as amended by RA 10623, basic necessity prices are automatically frozen at prevailing rates for up to 60 days in areas declared under a state of calamity.
For deregulated imported necessities such as household liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene, the statutory price freeze applies for a maximum period of 15 days based on existing inventory levels.
Section 5 of the Price Act explicitly bans hoarding, profiteering, and cartel operations involving essential goods.
Violators of illegal price manipulation provisions face 5 to 15 years of imprisonment and fines ranging from P5,000 to P2 million under Section 15 of the law.
Additionally, Section 16 penalizes violations of automatic price freezes or mandated ceilings with 1 to 10 years of imprisonment, fines between P5,000 and P1 million, or both.
Pangilinan warned that public officials who conceal or conspire in market manipulation will face severe statutory penalties under Section 19, including permanent disqualification from public office.