CEBU, Philippines - Prices of seafood products in various Cebu markets have increased recently by up to 20 percent due to the current bad weather and strong winds brought by southwest monsoon or habagat.
Typhoon Henry has enhanced further the habagat that is affecting the Visayas region, making it hard for local fishermen to catch seafood because of big waves. In fact, fishermen are warned not to sail over the seaboards of Visayas and neighboring provinces due to strong winds.
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the typhoon is expected to go out of the country today but another weather disturbance is being monitored by the state weather bureau.
Price hike
Given this, local vendors are expecting the price hike in seafood products to prevail in the market throughout the week unless the weather will eventually favor the fisher folks.
The recent price increases have also pushed consumers to cut their consumption on fish products, retailers revealed.
“Pagkahibawo sa among customers nga nisaka ang presyo, nangreklamo sila oy,” said 60-year-old Fidel Orongan, fish retailer at the Carbon Public Market in Cebu City. “Wa mi mahimo kay hinay man gyod ang abot sa mga isda.”
At public markets, fish prices have soared by 20 percent.
From the normal price of P80 – P90, a kilo of the famous galunggong now sells at P120 – P130; bangus and tulingan are now sold at P130 – P150 per kilo from the previous P90 – P110; anduhaw is bought at P150 – P170 a kilo from its previous price of P100 – P110; and a kilo of barilis now stands at P140 – P160 from the normal cost of P100 – P110.
On the other hand, fish prices at the supermarkets are relatively higher compared to public market costs. For instance, a kilo of galunggong is sold at P187; anduhaw sells at P210 per kilo; danggit is at P200 a kilo; and molmol is priced at P210 per kilo.
“Lisod gyod karon ang pagpanagat sa mga mangingisda kay kusog kaayong hangin,” the senior citizen vendor told The FREEMAN. "Unya mahal na ra ba among palit sa isda gikan sa pantalan."
Most of Carbon fish sellers source their goods from Pasil and Talisay fish markets.
Orongan and his fellow fish vendors have observed lately that most of their buyers would now opt to buy two kilos of fish instead of five kilos while some would rather consume only a quarter of a kilo of the commodity instead of one kilo.
Despite the limited fish supply in the market, sellers said they should keep the prices of their commodities at bay to still attract buyers, adding they can only hike prices up to 20 percent -- at the most.
Orongan normally sells from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day with his more than 50 kilos of fish stocks usually sold at the end of the day. Unfortunately, in recent days, he ends his selling with not less than 5 kilos of the goods left due to low sales.
“Tungod ana nga sitwasyon, nimenos pud among halin tungod kay gagmay na lang pamaliton sa mamalitay,” market vendor Juileng Baca, 73, said.
Vendors noted the inflation in seafood goods started Thursday last week when “Henry” entered the Philippines, thus affecting the weather in the region.
They added if moderate to strong winds will still prevail in the coming days, shoppers should expect the same higher fish prices.
The price hike has also been observed in several food stores as eatery owners have increased prices of their fish viands. A case in point is a whole fried anduhaw fish which is now sold to eaters at P35 from the usual P25 to P27.
Meanwhile, vegetable prices at the market have remained stable; and supply is enough. This is because of the rainy weather that has spurred faster vegetable production.
The Department of Agriculture does not impose suggested retail prices on raw and fresh agricultural products because price variation of these goods is inevitable. But the Price Act mandates the agency to strictly monitor prices and set measures against undue price increases. (FREEMAN)