No abnormal spike in prices after SRP peg, says agriculture head

MANILA, Philippines — Retail prices of some commodities have eased up and continued to stabilize, the head of the Department of Agriculture said.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said no violations were recorded and no complaints were received since the enforcement of the suggested retail prices for eight commodities toward end-June.

“It actually calmed down the noisy voices of consumers complaining about high prices of food in the market and it also stabilized the prices of commodities,” Piñol said.

“We received favorable response from consumers and independent observers and as we move along, we will still look at commodities with abnormal pricing then include it in the SRP,” he added.

For instance, some regular-milled rice are now priced at P38 per kilogram, lower than its SRP of P39 per kg.

Milkfish is being sold at a low of P90 to P120 per kg compared to its SRP of P150 per kg. Prices of tilapia and galunggong (mackerel) are also lower at P80 and P70 per kg, compared to the SRP of P100 and P140 per kg, respectively.

Other commodities also remain within the SRP including red onion for P95 per kg, white onion (P75), imported garlic (P70) and local garlic (P120).

However, current prices of meat are in an upward trend ranging from P350 to P400 per kg.

“We are cautioning the members of the hog industry not to price their product way above the acceptable level because if they price beyond the SRP, consumers might ask the government to step in and the only way is to consider importation,” Piñol said.

“As of now, there are no plans to import yet but that is an option that we will look into,” he added.

As for poultry products,  the DA will hold consultations with stakeholders this week.

The monitoring of prices is in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Interior and Local Government.