Egg prices to rise as typhoon hits ‘egg basket’
By Jhunnex Napallacan
Visayas Bureau
First Posted 02:29:00 06/26/2008
CEBU CITY – Egg prices in the province were expected to increase as Typhoon “Frank” destroyed around 70 percent of poultry farms on Bantayan Island.
Bantayan Island, the egg basket of the Visayas and Mindanao, is the major supplier of eggs in Cebu, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Mindanao and even the National Capital Region, according to Gerry Avila, Department of Agriculture (DA 7) agribusiness and marketing assistant division head.
Avila said Bantayan accounted for 80-90 percent of Cebu’s egg production of about 54.5 million eggs monthly or 1.8 million daily.
This meant that over 1.45 million eggs produced daily in Cebu came from Bantayan, he added.
Avila said Cebu gets about 10 percent of its eggs from southern Cebu towns but the province could get eggs from other provinces, which would cost more.
Avila also said Bantayan Island has been supplying 2 million eggs monthly to the National Capital Region.
Bantayan Mayor Geralyn Escario Cañares said officials would ask the national government to provide soft loans to owners of poultry farms to help them revive their business.
Rep. Benhur Salimbangun, of Cebu’s fourth district, said most of the 150 poultry owners in Bantayan lost their farms.
Wellington Chan Lim, a poultry owner, said he has started increasing his price by 20 centavos per egg, from P3 to P3.20.
But Lim warned that the price would continue to rise.
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