Metro Manila chili prices soar to P800 per kilo

MANILA, Philippines — The retail price of local chili (labuyo) reached as high as P800 per kilo in Metro Manila amid the shortage in supply after at least 100 hectares of plantations were damaged by recent typhoons and the southwest monsoon.

Based on monitoring of the Department of Agriculture (DA), local chili is currently sold between P500 and P800 per kilo in Metro Manila markets.

“We are now looking for alternative areas to supply Metro Manila to be able to bring down the prices in the next weeks or months,” Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) deputy spokesperson Henry Esconde said, addingthat the farmgate price of local chili also increased.

“Based on the report from the provinces, as of Sept. 13, the farmgate price reached P500, P400, P300 particularly in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Calabarzon,” he said.

Among the areas being eyed to supply local chili to the National Capital Region are Mindanao, particularly Davao Oriental, and the Visayas.

Esconde clarified that the spike was not due to hoarding.

Meanwhile, the wholesale prices of tomatoes and other vegetables started to go down after a spike in the cost of farm products in the past weeks, according to the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal (NVAT).

The wholesale price of tomatoes now ranged between P90 and P100 per kilo compared to the prevailing price in the food terminal last week of P100 to P120 per kilo, NVAT general manager Gilbert Cumila said.