Poe urges price freeze on garlic

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe is urging the government to immediately impose a price freeze on garlic after its price shot  up to  P280 per kilo.

Poe noted that under Republic Act No. 7581 or the Price Act of 1992 as amended, implementing agencies such as the Department of Agriculture (DA) may determine, recommend to the President and enforce price ceiling or control if there is “prevalence or widespread acts of illegal price manipulation, the impendency, existence, or effect of any event causes artificial and unreasonable increase in the price of the basic necessity or prime commodity and whenever the prevailing price of any basic necessity or prime commodity has risen to unreasonable levels.”

“Don’t we have an agency that can immediately impose a moratorium or price freeze when the profits reach 900 percent?” she asked in Filipino during the hearing of the Senate committee on agriculture and food on Thursday.

“Because this can’t be. Look, if it reaches three months without monitoring, or maybe two, the profit would be so big so we need to act fast,” she said.

It was learned  during the hearing that traders  earned as much as 900 percent on sales of imported garlic since the landed cost of garlic from China costs only P17 per kilo, including duties.

“What is your tolerance level: 10, 50 or 100 percent? We have to know, otherwise, we are not effectively doing our jobs,” Poe said, directing her question to Victorio Mario Dimagiba, Trade and Industry Undersecretary for Consumer Welfare and Business Regulation Group and head of the National Price Coordinating Council Secretariat, who was also present in the hearing.

“There has to be more vigilance on your part.  If you see that there’s a jump of 900 percent, right away you should already call the attention of the Department of Agriculture, right away the DA should already call the attention of the coops that sold their rights to the traders,” she said.

Poe said the government must also provide lasting solutions to help local farmers, including farmers’ cooperatives.

She also asked the DA and local cooperatives to provide a list of traders so that hoarders and price manipulators may be punished.

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