Government urged to focus on logistics, transport to lower food prices

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis Pangilinan is urging the government to revisit its food supply chain and focus on logistics and transport amid spikes in some commodity prices.

“There’s something wrong with the food price hikes. There’s demand and there’s supply. Our people are going hungry. Our farmers are producing more. Transport seems to be the problem,” Pangilinan said.

“The prices of food must go down. And this can be done with proper and enough transport,” he said.

Market monitoring of the Department of Agriculture showed prices of several agricultural products increased from last month.

For one, the prevailing price of galunggong is at P200 per kilogram, up P40.

Pork kasim increased by P50 to P280 a kilo while pork liempo also saw a P50 hike to P320.

Some vegetables like ampalaya, sitao, pechay, eggplant, baguio beans, and potato went up by as much as P10 a kilo. Prices of onion also rose by as much as P60 a kilo.

Rice prices also increased by P2 per kilo, even as palay has been selling for a low of P12 per kilo in certain provinces.

Pangilinan said it is important to shorten the distance between consumers and producers especially amid the pandemic.

“Some local government units are organizing community markets and markets on wheels with LGUs themselves fetching from the farmers the food products that they themselves sell or make available to their constituents. This is a big help in lowering food prices,” he said.

Provisions under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act allows LGUs to procure agricultural products directly from farmers and fishers or agricultural cooperatives and associations.

Data from the DA showed direct food purchase by LGUs from farmers and cooperatives yielded over P6 billion in sales.