Pork prices to decline – hog raisers

MANILA, Philippines — Pork prices are expected to decline in the next four weeks amid the spike in retail costs, according to pork producers.

Retail prices of pork have reached as high as P460 per kilo.

Holiday demand for pork went higher last year compared to 2023, Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines president Rolando Tambago said in a radio interview.

Lunar New Year festivities contributed to the demand, he noted.

Pork retail prices usually decline in March during Holy Week, he said.

The farmgate price of pork remains low at P220 to P225 per kilo, Tambago said.

The Department of Agriculture (DA), he said, should implement a maximum suggested retail price (SRP) on imported pork.

Tambago expressed doubt the government will penalize traders who violate the maximum SRP.

Seventy percent of the Philippine’’ pork consumption came from imports, but the tariff cut did not bring down pork retail prices, farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura executive director Jayson Cainglet said earlier.

Summon economic managers

Meanwhile, economic managers must be summoned by Congress to explain rising rice prices despite the 20-percent tariff cut, former agriculture secretary Leonardo Montemayor said yesterday.

Remedial measures being undertaken should be explained amid Executive Order 62’s failure to bring down rice retail prices, he noted.

“This is puzzling. The secretaries of finance, economic planning and trade convinced the President to cut rice tariffs… They were supremely confident that retail prices would fall by P7 per kilo by as early as August. Did they not have contingency measures if prices did not decrease, as is the case today?” Montemayor asked.

The flooding of imported rice continues following the implementation of EO 62 in June 2024.

Meanwhile, palay prices could decrease if a food security emergency is declared, Magsasaka party-list chairman Argel Joseph Cabatbat warned.

“Enabling the National Food Authority (NFA) to release too much rice or sell them at a low price will mean that many farmers will be forced to sell their palay to local traders at break-even or lower prices when harvests begin this February,” Cabatbat said.

Cabatbat contradicted the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC)’s claim that rice prices had risen extraordinarily, saying retail prices are now going down.

“The NPCC’s recommendation would serve as the basis for Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to declare a food security emergency in rice, thereby allowing the NFA to unload its stocks,” he noted.

The NPCC has yet to transmit to the DA its resolution recommending the declaration.

Food security  emergency

The delayed food security emergency declaration can be attributed to possible legal issues, according to farmers’ group Federation of Free Farmers (FFF).

There should be an extraordinary increase in prices to declare an emergency as per Republic Act 12078 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act, FFF national manager Raul Montemayor said yesterday.

“Although still high, retail prices now are either stable or slowly going down. There was an extraordinary increase in the first few months of 2024, but that was almost a year ago. Why declare the emergency only now? It is clear that there is no current emergency,” Montemayor told The STAR.

The National Economic and Development Authority and Department of Finance should be held accountable for pushing for tariff cuts and telling the public that rice prices would go down as a result, Montemayor said.

Rice liberalization

The rice liberalization law must be repealed and basic commodities’ value-added tax and excise tax on oil should be junked to enable the poor to cope with rising food prices, according to Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas.

RA 11203 has been a disaster for farmers and consumers, she said.

“After five years of implementation, prices continue to soar while local farmers suffer,” Brosas said yesterday.

Sarah Elago, Gabriela’s first nominee in this year’s elections, has slammed the Marcos administration’s continued reliance on importation. – Jose Rodel Clapano