Hoarders and profiteers
PRICES of goods and services continue to rise beyond the reach of the poorest of the poor not only in the heavily-populated Metropolitan Manila (MM) area but elsewhere.
Thus, there’s now that urgent need for government authorities, national and local, to intensify the fight against unscrupulous traders, notably hoarders and profiteers.
If not, these greedy “economic saboteurs” will continue to victimize the Filipino people, who are still suffering due to the more than two years of lockdown.
Knowing full well the presence of erring traders, President Marcos did the right thing when he ordered the inspection of warehouses suspected of storing hoarded or smuggled sugar.
“Malaking bagay ang ginagawang inspeksyon sa mga bodega dahil may mga negosyante diyan na gustong kumita ng malaki sa madaling panahon,” an irate consumer said.
He added: “Siguradong nangangatog na ngayon sa takot ang tuhod ng mga buwayang negosyante na ito dahil mismong si Pangulong Marcos na ang nangunguna sa kampanya.”
Conducting the inspection of warehouses are operatives from the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and Department of Agriculture (DA).
These eagle-eyed inspectors have visited warehouses in Metropolitan Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Batangas and even as far as Davao in Mindanao.
Last Tuesday, Malacanang vowed to intensify the nationwide campaign against hoarding and profiteering.
We cannot overemphasize the importance of addressing the skyrocketing prices of services and goods, particularly food, oil and other petroleum products.
Admittedly, the pressure on prices of basic commodities to further increase are building up
