Gov't asked to control prices of galunggong
CITY -- The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) has called on the government to control the prices of galunggong or round scad which now costs P250 per kilo.
The group cited the need for government intervention through price control to stabilize the prices of the ‘poor man’s fish’”.
“With P250/ kilogram retail price, galunggong is no longer a ‘poor man’s fish’. This unreasonable pricing is mainly caused by government’s failure to regulate private fish traders who secure their profits by jacking up the wholesale prices and eventually pushes up retail prices at unaffordable levels,” according to Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA National Chairperson said in a statement.
PAMALAKAYA clarified that the retail prices of galunggong and other fishery products do not reflect their farm gate value, as fish traders barter them to small fishers with a very low price.
For instance, the fishers’group explained, farm gate price of galunggong in Palawan province is around P60-P80 per kilogram or four times lower than its retail price.
“The unregulated middlemen system in fish trade results to manipulation of farm gate and market prices which is both detrimental to small fishers and ordinary consumers,” said Hicap.
PAMALAKAYA has been opposing the “import-liberalization measure”of the Department of Agriculture (DA) as its solution to crisis in fisheries production. Instead, the fishers’group urged the DA to carry out a “parallel effort” to stabilize fish prices by directly procuring the fishery produce of small fisherfolks, and set a standard retail price for fisheries and marine products through price control.
“Instead of importation which is harmful to local fishing industry, the DA should intervene by imposing a price ceiling on fish that would be reasonable and beneficial to local producers, retailers, and consumers. This effort would preempt greedy wholesalers and traders from manipulating the prices of galunggong and other fishery products that serve
as primary protein sources for many Filipinos,” Hicap added.
Hicap, former Anakpawis Party-list solon, cited that his group’s proposal is stated under the Republic Act 7581 or the Price Act that provisions “Automatic Price Control against illegal manipulation, including profiteering or the sale or offering for sale of any basic necessity or prime commodity at a price grossly in excess of its true worth.”