The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Negros Oriental said yesterday that major business establishments in typhoon-hit areas in the province have been found compliant with the nationwide price freeze on basic goods.

“We visited major retailers late last week and saw that the prices of basic necessities and prime commodities were within the suggested retail price or below the price freeze,” Krystle Jade Bato, spokesperson and chief of the Consumer Protection Division of DTI-Negros Oriental, told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.

The DTI conducted a two-day monitoring and inspection of establishments in Canlaon City, Guihulngan City and Vallehermoso, the areas hardest hit by Typhoon “Tino” in Negros Oriental.

A 60-day price freeze is being enforced nationwide following President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s declaration of a state of calamity due to the devastation caused by Typhoon “Tino” in many parts of the country.

Bato said in Canlaon City, major retail outlets resumed business about two days after “Tino’s” onslaught.

Meanwhile, the DTI team also inspected establishments in Bais City and Manjuyod, which are still reeling from the October 26 molasses wastewater spill from the Universal Robina Corporation – Bais Distillery.

Both areas are under state of calamity as well due to the environmental disaster that resulted in thousands of displaced residents, fisherfolk and businesses, and the contamination of Bais Bay and the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape. (PNA)