Veggie prices skyrockets

WITH SEVERAL road cuts along Halsema Highway, delivery of goods are hampered resulting to high prices of vegetables.

Benguet Provincial Agriculturist Lolita Bentres and Benguet Farmers Marketing Cooperative general manager Augusta Balanoy said the very high price of vegetables is due to the impassable roads but assured there is an ample supply of highland vegetables.

Balanoy said the supply of vegetables have increase because of the opening of Madaymen-Atok-Tublay road.

Prices of vegetables at the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post as of September 18 indicates P200 to P270 for carrots, P90 to 105 for cabbage, P40 to P100 for wombok and P70 to P100 for sayote.

At the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center, price for cabbage (rareball) ranges from P75 to 100 and (scorpio) P90 to P105 while potatoes are sold at P40 to P47, sayote at P60 to P70, and long radish at P30 to P60.

Based on initial data from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG), damage in the agriculture sector in Benguet reached P181.258 million

Bentres said the data is still subject to validation by their office together with the 13 municipalities.

She added most of the crops are in their vegetative stage where farmers are preparing to rehabilitate and recover.

In the province, there were 10,374 affected out of the 57, 369 farmers.

Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who was also in the province with President Rodrigo Duterte said Ompong could be recorded as the second most destructive typhoon in recent memory for the country.

“Yolanda’s damage to agriculture was P35 billion, now, damage to agriculture by Ompong is P14 billion,” added Piñol last Monday at the Benguet provincial capitol.

<DTI declares price freeze>B

The Department of Trade and Industry meanwhile assured there will be no increase of prices for basic commodities.

On September 17, DTI Undersecretary for Consumer Protection Group Ruth Castelo said considering the state of calamity declaration since September 3 in Benguet province, prices of necessities and prime commodities were frozen.

“Hindi po siya pwedeng umakyat but it cannot also go down. The Consumer Protection Division regional office and the province office of Benguet will closely monitor these goods,” Castelo added.