Regional Director Ruel Paclipan of the Department of Trade and Industry 10 explaining the discounts on prices of goods granted to senior citizens to former Cagayan de Oro City Water District Chairman Eduardo Montalvan, at a forum in a downtown mall, July 2, 2025. The query, he said, should appropriately be asked to the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs office. Photo by Henry Manticahon
TheMonitorMindanaoToday.com | No price hike on school supplies, DTI-10 assures
By: The Monitor Mindanao Today
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Three weeks into classes of school-year 2025-2026, parents are assured retailers have not changed the prices of school supplies their children need–except for writing pad paper which has turned out to be comparatively cheaper.
“We include school supplies in our price monitoring,” said Director Ruel Paclipan of the Department of Trade and Industry Northern Mindanao (DTI-10), in a Meet the Press forum at SM Downtown Premier mall here on Wednesday, July 2.
Paclipan said there was no complaint filed before his office from buyers of school supplies that are classified into eight categories: notebooks, pad paper, ballpens, pencil and pencil case, eraser, sharpener, crayons, and ruler.
He said that price monitoring on the retail prices of school supplies is seasonal, similar to the prices of “Noche Buena” products that within DTI’s close watch during Christmas season.
These, he said, are aside from the suggested retail prices (SRP) of basic and prime commodities that are issued by DTI and become the basis once members of the local price monitoring council visit business establishments.
A check on school supplies, as itemized in DTI public advisories issued this year and in 2024, showed a cut on the prices to P35 from P36 and to P23 from P25 for the 80-leaves pad paper for intermediate (200mm x 250mm) and for Grades 1 to 4 (210mm x 143mm), respectively.
Although the DTI has not issued an explanation to the slight reduction in the prices of pad paper—the most essential material where all learners write on in the day-to-day classroom performance tasks–the demand for it has not been as much before the introduction of information technology.
Chief Education Supervisor Mala Epra Magnaong, who heads the Curriculum and Learning Management Division of the Department of Education in Northern Mindanao, said many have been into technology-driven performance tasks among learners.
But Magnaong clarified that in “formative and summative assessments” on the competencies of pupils and students, pad paper is still being used. Learners in schools situated in remote and rural areas—lacking or no internet connectivity—are dependent on writing using pad paper. (Uriel Quilinguing)
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