DA exec: Monitor chicken, sugar prices
Various sectors in Western Visayas have been encouraged by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to be vigilant on prices of basic and prime commodities, particularly agricultural products.
“Let us continue monitoring prices because the reports that we gather will give us an idea about what interventions to give to our farmers,” DA Regional Technical Director for Policy, Planning, Research and Support Services Joyce Wendam said during Monday’s conference on the enforcement of Republic Act 7581 or the Price Act.
The gathering was for the price control or monitoring in-charge and staff of different attached agencies of the DA, as well as of the local government unit; there were also participants from non-government organizations and the private sector, in order to check if the price ceiling set by the DA-Central Office on chicken and refined sugar is within reasonable price for the locality.
Suggested retail price (SRP) for fully dressed whole chicken is P125/kilo, while refined white sugar is at P52/kilo.
Wendam said they want to know if prices are indeed affected by the El Niño phenomenon, despite its being mildly felt in some provinces, like Aklan and northern part of Antique.
DA’s monitoring found out that in Iloilo, prices of chicken and sugar are lower compared to the SRP identified by their main office in Metro Manila.
Price in wet markets in the city reaches only up to P120/kilo of whole dressed chicken, while price in supermarkets at certain malls is only around P105/kilo.
Sugar prices vary, with some reaching P56/kilo, especially during the monitoring from January to February this year when milled price of sugar has increased.
“As our monitoring revealed, there are already many (positive) improvements as to the implementation of the Price Act, so we urge everyone to continue helping us,” Wendam said.
Meanwhile, participants in the conference agreed to recommend to the DA-Central Office indicative prices for chicken and sugar instead of the SRP as there is no cause for concern in the region regarding undue price increases resulting from a crisis or emergency situation. (PNA)
