Question & AnswerQ&A (LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS No. 1859)
Prime and essential commodities include essential foods and foodstuffs (milk, rice, corn, meat, poultry, cooking oil, flour, sugar), medicines, drugs and pharmaceutical preparations, animal and poultry feeds, building and construction materials, textiles and garments, educational and office supplies and equipment, fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, and other agricultural inputs, laundry soap and detergents, household utensils and appliances, motor vehicle spare parts and machinery, iron, steel, copper, tinplates and other basic mineral products, footwear and its components, and other commodities as determined by the Minister of Trade and Industry in consultation with the Price Stabilization Council.
Hoarding is defined as the undue accumulation by a businessman of prime and/or essential commodities beyond normal inventory levels, unjustified refusal to sell or distribute to consumers, unreasonable accumulation by a person or entity other than a businessman, or storing, collecting, keeping, hiding, or taking essential or prime commodities out of trade channels.
Profiteering means selling or offering for sale any article or commodity with the intent of obtaining a fraudulent or grossly excessive price over the true or intrinsic worth of the item.
Price manipulation is the artificial advancing and depressing of prices by those who have the ability to do so using certain devices.
The Minister of Trade and Industry is authorized to adopt and implement necessary measures to prevent hoarding, profiteering, or price manipulation of prime and essential commodities.
Local government units, upon deputization by the Minister of Trade and Industry, are required to report cases of hoarding, profiteering, and price manipulation to law enforcement agencies.
Penalties include imprisonment of not less than six months nor more than five years, a fine of not less than two thousand pesos but not more than twenty thousand pesos, or both, at the discretion of the court, and forfeiture of the products subject to the offense.
Aliens shall be immediately deported after serving their sentence without further proceedings. Naturalized citizens shall lose their Philippine citizenship and, after serving their sentence, shall also be deported immediately.
Administrative penalties that may be imposed include cease and desist orders, acceptance of voluntary compliance assurances, seizure of products, administrative fines from 500 to 100,000 pesos plus additional fines for continuing violations, cancellation or suspension of permits or licenses, withholding of permits or licenses, censure, and other analogous penalties or sanctions.
The President or Manager of the firm or corporation shall be criminally responsible for such acts committed by the firm or corporation.