DA chief: Pork price cap stays until April 8, 2021
AGRICULTURE Secretary William D. Dar on Monday said the price ceiling on pork and chicken in Metro Manila will remain until the expiration of Duterte’s Executive Order (EO) 124, pointing out that lifting the measure would “undeniably” result in price spikes.
“We will maintain it in the remaining days until April 8, 2021 as prescribed under EO 124,” the agriculture chief said in a news statement.
“Lifting it will undeniably result in a dramatic rise in prices of pork and chicken, given that the African swine fever [ASF] crisis is still raging and thus continues to impact on local production of hogs nationwide,” he added.
Dar issued the statement after the country’s inflation rate accelerated further in February to 4.7 percent from 4.2 percent in January. Duterte’s EO 124 expires on April 8.
“It is incumbent upon the Duterte government to take all necessary measures to check inflationary pressure to protect low-income households, particularly the poor, who are hurt most—because high inflation further fritters away the value of their already small income,” he said.
Dar added that maintaining the current price ceiling sends a “strong signal to Filipino consumers” that the government “cares about their welfare.”
Dar noted that Filipino consumers are “suffering from lower incomes due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our economy.”
“Hog producers, wholesalers, and retailers are no less expected to do their share in helping the country’s economic recovery effort,” he added.
Dar is also lukewarm to hog raisers’ proposal to raise the price ceiling, arguing that doing so would “a redundant measure given that the actual average pork and chicken prices are higher than the ceiling imposed by EO 124.” Some hog industry players are proposing to increase the current price ceiling for pork kasim and liempo, which is currently at P270 per kg and P300 per kg, respectively, to P330 per kg and P360 per kg, respectively.
Dar pointed out that if the price ceiling is raised then industry players would hike their prices anew with Filipino consumers at the losing end.
“It is not far-fetched that if the price ceiling is raised to a new level, industry players will hike their prices once again, emboldened by the knowledge that they are capable of pressuring the government to change its mind,” he said.
“In the meantime, consumers will be fretting that the government is not really serious in protecting their interests,” he added.
Citing latest reports gathered by the Department of Agriculture Field Operation Service, Dar said total hog and carcass deliveries from various regions to Metro Manila, from February 8 to March 7, 2021, have reached 127,868 heads, and 823,673 kilograms (kg) of carcass.
Dar added that hog and carcass deliveries averaged 4,567 heads and 28,417 kg daily, respectively, during the reference period. “These surpass Metro Manila’s average daily requirement of 4,000 heads,” he said.