MANILA -The government may extend an order that placed basic goods under price control beyond the usual 60 days as parts of Luzon have been badly hit by storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng, a ranking official yesterday said.

"In Luzon, you will be convinced you need to keep [the price control after seeing the impact]," Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila told reporters at the sidelines of the Philippine Economic Briefing yesterday, citing observations he made in a recent visit to Benguet, Pangasinan and Tarlac.

Under the price control law (Republic Act 7581), the government requires suppliers and retailers to freeze prices of basic commodities for 60 days after a state of calamity is declared. "We will extend it if the situation calls for it," Mr. Favila said.

He went on to reiterate that his office is readying a draft executive order that will "expedite the entry of imports" in case supplies run low.

So far however, government officials said there is no need to ease import rules, as prices of vegetables are expected to go back to levels before typhoon Pepeng following the opening of access roads to and from Cordillera. "In 3 to 5 days, prices of vegetables will normalize," Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap told reporters.

Also, he said vegetable deliveries from as far as Northern Mindanao will increase inventory in the Metro Manila late this week. About 45,000 kilos of vegetables will be delivered from northern Mindanao this week, he said.

Late last week, Northern Luzon, specifically the Cordilleras, was cut from Manila and other provinces due to floods and landslides caused by Pepeng.

This resulted in prices of some vegetables doubling to tripling this week given the lack of supply. For instance, retail prices of cabbage has risen to P150 per kilo from P50 late last week; carrots to P180 per kilo from P90; habitchuelas to P150 from P80; and white potato to P150 per kilo from P70, data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics show.

Benguet and the Mt. Province supply at least 65% of highland vegetables to Metro Manila, data from the Agriculture department show.

Trading activities in Benguet started picking up anew on Tuesday with the partial re-opening of access roads, Mr. Yap said.

Access roads Marcos Highway, Kennon Road and Naguilian Road were partially opened to traffic on Tuesday.