00:00 Known for being the shopping mecca for those who want to get the most bang for their buck,
00:05 Divisoria always comes to mind when aiming to stretch one's budget.
00:09 But with the opening of classes of public schools nearing,
00:12 that may not actually be the case for school supplies.
00:15 Noel Talakay, tell us more.
00:17 Ivy with five children who are all in school, beating the school supply shopping rush in Divisoria.
00:26 In less than two weeks, classes in public schools will resume,
00:30 which could trigger a raise in the prices of school supplies, which she absolutely worries.
00:36 This is also the apprehension of the Department of Trade and Industry or DTI.
00:47 That's why the agency conducted this morning a price inspection of school supplies in Divisoria
00:53 to ensure suggested retail price or SRP compliance based on their observation.
00:58 However, Janet, a vendor in Divisoria said they might increase the prices of notebooks
01:17 and other paper products due to lack of supplies.
01:20 We don't have supplies. We don't have supplies to get from the vendors.
01:25 It's a bit high. It's a bit high because last July, it was only at 15.
01:31 For fair fees, it was only at 150. Now it's at 190.
01:37 But DTI is seeing it as vendor mind conditioning on the public
01:42 so they have reason to increase the prices of notebooks and other school supplies.
01:47 As you can see, we came from an ambulance vendor.
01:50 Their notebooks and pads are complete.
01:54 So, of course, you have to interpret those signals.
02:01 What do they mean by that?
02:02 So that they can increase the prices, maybe.
02:05 Moreover, one of the biggest and well-known school supply store in the country,
02:09 which has stores in Divisoria Mall, said they are ready to come in
02:13 should there be a shortage of school supplies in order to maintain its SRPs.
02:19 We are ready to ensure that our supply and stocks are complete for the rest of the school season.
02:28 The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, also present with the inspection
02:33 as they check lead content on certain school supplies like pencil and coloring crayons.
02:39 The agency also urged the public to physically and carefully check school supply
02:44 before buying it for the safety of their children.
02:47 We collected samples for analysis.
02:49 What we are analyzing here is the presence of heavy metals.
02:53 We will confirm this in our laboratory
02:56 so that we can know if those products have heavy metals.
03:00 The DTI also posted a list of school supplies with SRPs in selected stores in Divisoria.
03:07 The agency also advised the public to check their website for SRPs
03:12 and call their consumer hotline 1384 or email them at consumercare@dti.gov.ph
03:20 for any overpriced incident.
03:23 Noel Talacay for the Nation.
03:25 nation.
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