More on prices

This is curious: Meralco is set to lower power rates but added the warning that they will go up during the summer months!

A visit to the Muntinlupa wet market yielded the following prices (each one is for items measuring one kilo) – Magnolia chicken at P140 while unbranded ones go for P10 less. Pork cuts – kasim, pigue, P185, pata P150, liempo P190.

We sought out our suki, Nestor and Lily, for guarantee that the pigs were not double dead. Their beef is also recommended – neck, sirloin and soft bones, P270, brisket P260.

Crustaceans – small shrimps P400, big P500; crabs (alimasag) at P300 per kilo. Fish – maya-maya P300, tilapia P85, lapu- lapu P350 and P450 depending on the size. Squid is at P260.

Now you must be aware of some fishmongers with very quick hands and apparently tampered (to their advantage) scales. What we got for supposedly one kilo of lapu-lapu (four small pieces) for P350, actually weighed only 750 gms when we arrived home and put them on our digital weighing scale. We were had! When will all wet market vendors give us value for our money?

We understand there are government public market supervisors. Do they ever check the weighing scales there? Likewise, there were markets with public scales that buyers can use to check the weight of their purchases, but these have either disappeared or are in a state of disrepair.

Now the vegetables. They are mostly scattered on the farthest end of the market or along the side streets. The wide variety affords the buyers to choose what appear like fresh harvests.

We noted the following – cabbage, P30; Baguio beans, P60; broccoli, P100; sayote, P15; tomatoes, P40; onions, P56; ginger, P120.

Fruits are found right on the roadside of the market. Mangoes, P120; grapes, P250; oranges, P30; lanzones, P110.

It should be noted that some of these prices are at par with those in the supermarkets and some are a few pesos less.

This goes to prove an old belief and truth that the buyer does not always get the desired reasonable price for all the goods that they buy, nor all the items that they need in one store, market or outlet.

Therefore, if possible, we need to plot our shopping paths to suit our needs and pockets.

We join the nation in welcoming Pope Francis to our shores. We have just finished reading his biography and we are moved by his mission of mercy and humility.

Have a blessed Sunday!

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