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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY August 1 - 15, 2016
BUSINESS NEWS
DOTr new plans to ease NCR traffic
The
Transportation
department has bared new plans
aimed at easing traffic congestion
in Metro Manila.
In a business forum,
Transportation Secretary Arthur
Tugade said the agency is looking
at increasing car registration
fees as well as taxing those who
purchase their second or third
cars.
Recent data from the
Chamber
of
Automotive
Manufacturers showed vehicle
sales surged 26.7 percent in the
first seven months of 2016.
Tugade said that since
the LRT line 2 does not have
a concession agreement with
private firms for operations and
maintenance, the agency is
looking at converting the train
line into a bus rapid transit
system.
This is similar, he noted,
to what has been done in Hong
Kong and China, where rails
are removed and the system is
converted for bus tracks.
According to Tugade, the
SM and Ayala groups have already
ironed out their differences over
the common station of the LRT
and MRT at North Edsa.
He said the two groups are
to sign an agreement by month’s
end for the placement of the
common station in between SM
North Edsa and Trinoma, which
will be much more convenient
for commuters.
Tugade said he had
tagged his transport roadmap as
a “30-year” plan in anticipation
of the traffic mess growing in
the mega cities outside the NCR,
as they continue to progress in
coming years.(G. Dela Pena,
Interaksyon)
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, appearing at last week’s
Senate hearing on emergency powers for the traffic mess. SENATE
PRIB PHOTO
Prices remain stable for consumer goods
PRICES of manufactured
basic necessities and prime
commodities remained stable in
the first seven months of 2016,
according to the Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI) on
Tuesday.
DTI’s
latest
price
monitoring report released
in early August says the price
of goods such as King Cup
canned sardines 155g, Surf
Bar Kalamansi 390g, Datu
Puti Vinegar 350ml, Datu Puti
Soy Sauce 350ml, Safeguard
toilet soap 90g and 1L Summit
mineralized bottled water during
January to July were lower by
P0.50, P1.10, P0.20, P0.35, P1
and P3, respectively compared
with their suggested retail price
(SRP)
The retail prices of some
items with no SRP such as certain
brands of canned sardines,
powdered milk, coffee refill,
detergent soap, luncheon meat,
meat loaf, vinegar, soy sauce,
toilet soar and flour also found
to have declined by between 15
and 95 centavos in the first week
of August.
All other goods that are
monitored by the agency remain
unchanged.
“Although prices are stable
for the past months, the DTI will
continuously intensify its price
monitoring efforts to safeguard
consumers’ access to reasonablypriced basic necessities and
prime commodities,” said Ann
Claire Cabochan, DTI-Consumer
Protection Group officer-incharge director.
DTI’s
Fair
Trade
Enforcement Bureau (FTEB)
conducts
regular
price
monitoring activities in over 300
supermarkets and groceries in the
National Capital Region (NCR).
DTI Regional and Provincial
Offices monitor supermarkets
and groceries outside the NCR.
Consumers,
retailers,
distributors and manufacturers
can also check for the SRPs and
prevailing prices of all basic and
prime goods being monitored by
the DTI, including those stores
having the lowest prices at DTI’s
online price monitoring system,
e-Presyo which can be accessed
through www.e-presyo.dti.gov.ph
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
or downloaded from Play Store
using any Android device.( R. S.