CEBU, Philippines - As the government increased the volume of garlic imports, the price of the said commodity is expected to gradually go down this week until it goes back to its normal cost.
While several garlic products in Cebu public markets are now priced at P200 to as low as P180 per kilo, a number of traders still sell garlic at P250 to P280 per kilo.
Two hundred eighty pesos is so far one of the product's highest price spike recently.
The Department of Agriculture said between 14,000 to 16,000 metric tons of imported garlic is expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
DA-7 Agribusiness and Marketing Chief Gerry Avila told The FREEMAN the agency has already started issuing sanitary and phyto-sanitary permits for garlic shipments.
The permits are granted by the Bureau of Plant Industry.
"Actually, kapag fresh commodities, it is really a requirement because we have the quarantine law to make sure the safety of the products for the consumers," Avila noted.
Several Carbon Market garlic retailers have decreased their prices by P50 and P70 as 'enough' supply of imported garlic has started to penetrate the market.
Vendor ChonaMiego, 47, said she has been seeing a positive reaction from her customers in recent days, knowing the price of garlic now stands at P200 a kilo.
"Bisan tuod ma-consider gihapon ni nga taas pero at least hinay-hinay nang nagka-ubos ang presyo sa ahos di sama sa niagi nga P250 - P280 nga mao gyoy nakapugong sa pagpalit sa mga tawo," the vendor told The FREEMAN.
Another market vendor, 55-year-old Pedro Quipte is selling his garlic at P180, slightly lower compared to prices of other retailers.
The male vendor shared that last week, he was able to buy garlic shipments from the nation's capital at a lower cost, a reason for him to sell it at a lower price.
However, Quipte's previous stocks are still sold at P200 per kilo because he has to regain the higher capital he spent for such goods.
Jean Amal, another garlic vendor, has kept her garlic price at P280 a kilo because her stocks were purchased at a time when garlic prices were still high and she has to regain her capital. But if she could purchase the new, low-priced supplies, she would eventually offer the low-cost -- at least for now -- garlic variety.
Vendors expressed fears that their old stocks might no longer be sold as new imported garlic supplies have started to prevail in the marketplace; or else, they would possibly be forced to make prices at the same rate.
In some supermarkets, garlic price has stayed unmoved at P299 per kilo.
However, the chief explained the new garlic supplies, which are now relatively lower in terms of price, would not immediately affect market prices, saying old stocks are still currently sold to the buyers.
With the slight price cut experienced for a week already, DA's Avila hopes for a continued decrease of the product's cost. (FREEMAN)