NEWS | Surging food prices and approved price cap irk consumers and producers alike
By Miraflor Anacio
The high prices of basic commodities, such as vegetables, fish, and meat, are far from affordable considering the current minimum wage and high unemployment rate in the country brought about by the pandemic. The recommendation of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to impose price freeze on basic food products to lower down the prices to reasonable levels was slammed by senators, local traders, and retailers alike. Moreover, working class Filipinos called on the government to increase the minimum wage and provide extensive intervention to assist producers.
Implementation of price cap
To curb the prices of pork and chicken, President Rodrigo Duterte signed on Monday, February 1, Executive Order (EO) №124 which sets a price ceiling on the said products in the National Capital Region (NCR) effective immediately. However, on February 2, DA spokesperson Noel Reyes announced the postponement of its implementation to February 8 upon the requests of hog raisers and traders.
Under the EO, the following price range limits will be imposed for 60 days: Pork (pigue) — ₱270 per kilo, Pork liempo — ₱300 per kilo, and dressed chicken — ₱160 per kilo. The price of pork and chicken before the ceiling ranges from ₱360- ₱450 and ₱220 per kilo, respectively.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said traders and profiteers manipulating prices are the ones to blame for the price hikes in recent months, stating that the farm gate price is only around ₱132–185/kilo.
Conversely, hog raisers objected to the EO. Associations of local producers then refuted the claims by Dar, further clarifying that the capital per kilo from farm gate to katayan for these products are around ₱310 — ₱320.
Nicanor Briones, Vice President for Luzon Pork Producers Federation and President of the Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines Partylist (AGAP), cited African swine fever, unconstrained importation of chicken and pork, and slow recovery due to the effects of COVID pandemic including constraints in capital amid the coronavirus-triggered recession, and problem with mobilizing supply as factors for the high prices of their products.
In addition, the hog and poultry raisers denied the accusations of hoarding supplies and complained about the lack of consultation before the DA recommended the cap price.
“Wala po consultation po yan ma’am. Malinaw na siya ay naglagay presyo, inirekomenda niya kay President na walang consultation sa amin. Ito po yung nakakalungkot, lahat po ng solusyon para dito sa ating problema ay parusa po sa amin., “ Briones added.
Decry of masses
Partido ng Manggawa President Rene Magtubo emphasized that the impact of high prices of basic commodities especially to the minimum earners and unemployed amid the pandemic is dreadful. He said that the kilo of vegetable, fish and pork takes the half to a whole day salary of minimum earners and asked how then could a jobless afford those prices.
“Pork and vegetables are so expensive. Prices are surging but the Duterte government is not doing anything to help workers survive,” said Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Secretary General Jerome Adonis.
The retailers reiterated that they, themselves, cannot afford what they sell and that there are other expenses like rent and utility bills to cover from their revenue. In particular, Ricky Delgado, a pork dealer at Quinta market, said that their capital is higher than the approved price cap and the sales of pork are still weak due to the unchanged price of pork and chicken in Metro Manila markets.
The cause of the surging prices is mainly due to the unmanaged health crisis in the Philippines which is limiting the supply chain and capital. The hike of prices, as noted by Associated Labor Unions (ALU) Vice President Gerard Seno, started last December 2020 with the 3.5-inflation rate despite the 60-day price freeze imposed by a multi-agency government task force from Nov. 18, 2020 to Jan. 17.
Addressing the problem
To ensure the supply of pork and chicken in Metro Manila, Rosendo So, Chairperson of Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), asked for a P30 travel subsidy for supplies coming from outside Luzon for the retailers and traders to meet the price cap. He added that without subsidy and other extensive government intervention to assist hog raisers, local producers will suffer.
Furthermore, he explained that if the unreasonable prices of meat products will remain, the country may soon need to depend on the imported supplies.
“Kapag hindi niya [Secretary of DA William Dar] nabigay ang subsidiya, malaking problema ‘yan. Baka walang stock ang Metro Manila. At hindi masusunod ang price cap na ipinatupad dahil takot na mag-deliver diyan [Manila],“ said So.
The DA, on the other hand, also proposed lowering tariffs on pork imports to tame prices along with the price ceiling.
Meanwhile, labor groups continue the call to increase the minimum wage as the high price of the basic commodities remains. The proposed ₱750 National Minimum Wage Bill, filed last 2018, is still pending at the Congress.
“Napakatagal na panahon — pinandemya, binagyo at pinapatay na tayo ni Duterte, pero ang sahod ng manggagawa nakapako. Panawagan namin — pabilisin ang pag-apruba sa umento nang makabili kami ng mga kailangan namin. Dapat lang na kalingain ng gobyerno ang manggagawa kung gusto nitong bumangon ang bansa,” said Adonis on issue of soaring prices.
