Noli says prices of palengke goods stable

Vice President Noli de Castro said yesterday the prices of basic goods sold at markets in Metro Manila remain stable, except for off-season vegetables and certain saltwater fish.

De Castro led a "palengke" or wet market tour at the Mutya ng Pasig public market in Pasig City and the Concepcion Market in Marikina City to remind producers, traders, vendors and consumers that the government is closely monitoring the prices of goods.

He said the prices of pork, beef and chicken remain at P140, P200 and P100 per kilo, respectively, while the price of "tilapia" is still at P70 per kilo. The price of "bangus" or milkfish also remained stable.

The Vice President said the prices of certain vegetables and "galunggong," a saltwater fish commonly consumed by the poor, rose due to bad weather and low crop production in Luzon, where most of the vegetables come from.

He added that the prices of vegetables went up slightly because they are currently being sourced from Mindanao.

Baguio, the largest supplier of vegetables sold in Metro Manila, has been having problems transporting produce to the metropolis in the past days due to bad weather.

De Castro said the difficulty of fishing during the rainy season is behind the increase in the price of "galunggong," sometimes known as round scad.

"Our fishermen are having a difficult time catching fish when it is raining hard because during this time, saltwater fish tend to go deeper in the water," he said.

De Castro said that at the Pasig public market, the price of tomatoes rose from P48 to P52 per kilo from last week. The price of onions also rose to P56 per kilo from P52 last week. "Ampalaya" or bitter gourd was sold at P23 per kilo and the price of cabbage rose to P15 from P10 last week.

Other vegetables now sold at a higher price are Baguio beans, from P24 to P35 per kilo; carrots, from P24 to P26 per kilo; and potatoes, from P18 to P20 per kilo.

Aside from the bad weather, De Castro also attributed the increase in the prices of tomatoes and onions to the low output in Central Luzon since it is the off-season for these vegetables.

The Vice President was accompanied by Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio during his inspection of vendors’ weighing scales, which they found to be correctly calibrated.

In Marikina, De Castro was accompanied by Marikina Rep. Del de Guzman. They found that the prices of goods and basic commodities in the Concepcion Market also remained stable.

De Castro, however, noted that dressed chicken, selling at P140 per kilo, was more expensive in Marikina compared to Pasig, where it was sold at P90 to P100 per kilo.