De Castro, the government’s market price monitoring chief, said that recent shortages in basic commodities, particularly sugar, may have been brought about by hoarding and speculating practices by unscrupulous traders looking to profit from E-VAT.

De Castro and some officials of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) made a suprise visit yesterday morning at the Trabaho Market in Sampaloc, Manila to ensure that no hoarding or exorbitant price increases are being done by traders ahead of the increase in the E-VAT.

According to the DTI, the price of refined sugar went up to R38 per kilo last week from R34 per kilo the previous week. Brown sugar was selling at R30 per kilo last week, or R5 more than the previous week.

De Castro said that the government will continue to monitor marketplaces to ensure that the prices of basic commodities remain at reasonable rates, as he called on the public to report to the DTI any price manipulation that may be done by unscrupulous traders with the increase in the E-VAT.

"This is the problem with speculation. It pushes traders to unduly raise prices even though it is not warranted," De Castro said.

De Castro also appealed to the media to be careful in reporting or speculating on possible price increase which may be used by traders in unreasonably increasing their selling prices, as he noted that President Arroyo has already assured the public that the two percentage point increase in the E-VAT "would have a negligible effect."

De Castro also reported that the prices of other basic commodities like beef, pork, chicken, and rice have remained reasonable, and that no significant increases in the prices of these commodities is expected with the E-VAT.