The Department of Trade & Industry in Negros Oriental has earned the ire of the Negros Oriental Provincial Board, which has asked the Trade & Industry Secretary to reprimand DTI Provincial Director Nimfa Virtucio.
The controversy stemmed from a Resolution passed by the Provincial Board on Dec. 23 after Typhoon Odette slammed into Negros Oriental.
The Board asked DTI to conduct price monitoring in the areas affected by the typhoon to prevent unscrupulous traders from taking advantage of the situation.
Virtucio assured the Board, in a letter dated Jan. 13, that DTI has not been remiss in their duty to ensure the availability of supplies and the stability of prices of basic necessities, as mentioned in Republic Act 7581 or the Price Act.
She said the DTI had been monitoring prices of basic necessities in key cities and towns, as a basis to recommend a price freeze, in the event that a State of Calamity would be declared.
She said that after the typhoon, and even before the declaration of a State of Calamity by the Governor and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the DTI had already conducted price monitoring in Dumaguete and in other local government units, particularly those hit by the typhoon.
While saying that the DTI commends the Provincial Board for its concern, Virtucio added that she and her team felt insulted and disrespected by the Resolution.
“We have been doing our best, even foregoing our personal lives and risking our safety just to reach those badly- affected areas where the roads are impassable. You don’t have to pass a Resolution to tell us to do our jobs,” the DTI Provincial Director told the Board Members in her letter.
She said the Provincial Board should have instead requested the Governor to convene the Local Price Coordinating Council, where the DTI is a member including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, the Department of Health, and the Department of Environment & Natural Resources, to monitor products under their respective jurisdictions.
Virtucio’s letter did not sit well with the Provincial Board, which immediately passed a Resolution asking the DTI Secretary to administratively reprimand Virtucio “for her unprofessional reply to the Provincial Resolution no. 954, Series of 2022, which is an upfront (sic) to the august chamber and to the people it represents”.
The Provincial Board told the DTI Secretary that Virtucio’s reply contains “offensive remarks indicative of lack of respect and amity to the Board, a conduct unbecoming of a public servant”.
The Board said they had passed similar resolutions not only to the DTI but also to the different government agencies, reminding them of their functions especially during local and national crisis. “However, none of them reacted negatively as Ms. Virtucio did.”
The Board said the Resolution was “merely a reminder with all due courtesy to the Provincial DTI, and was in no way intended to demean, dictate, nor insult Ms. Virtucio”.
