Progressive groups stormed the Department of Agriculture office in Quezon City, to demand the reduction in prices of goods and call out President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for his foreign trips. Marcos is in Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum. (Photo from Anakpawis party-list)
MANILA, Philippines — Progressive groups marched to the Department of Agriculture (DA) office in Quezon City on Monday to protest rising commodity prices and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s latest international trip.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said Marcos should expect public outrage because food prices have soared, particularly red onions, which cost around P500 per kilogram.
Marcos, the concurrent Agriculture Secretary, traveled to Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday for the World Economic Forum. In December 2022, the country was experiencing an inflation rate of 8.1 percent, provoking criticism of the trip’s timing.
READ: Bongbong Marcos off to Switzerland for World Economic Forum
READ: Philippine inflation rose further to 8.1% in December
“While farmers and consumers demand effective short-term and long-term solutions to the problem of expensive food prices, DA and the economic managers can only think of importation as a solution to high prices. Mauuna pang maging P20 ang isang itlog kaysa sa isang kilo ng bigas (A single egg would reach the P20 price faster than the campaign promise for a kilogram price of rice),” KMP said in a statement.
The group also denounced the current administration’s decision to import onions and other goods to bring down prices, saying it is just a solution for the lazy.
Furthermore, KMP claimed that the country has a sufficient supply of several products like onions, noting that the government only allowed some distributors to hold on to their stock so that prices would drive up.
“Solusyon ng tamad ang importasyon. Ang dapat palakasin ang lokal na produksyon ng pagkain, hindi importasyon,” KMP said.
(Importation is the solution for the lazy. What they should have done is to strengthen local production of food, not importation.)
“May sapat na suplay ng sibuyas sa bansa. Tumaas ng labis-labis ang presyo nito dahil hinayaan ng rehimeng Marcos Jr. na umiral ang kartel na may pakana sa hoarding, profiteering at manipulasyon sa presyo at suplay ng sibuyas. Dagdag pa rito ang lansakang ismagling ng sibuyas at iba pang gulay mula Tsina na pumapatay sa mga lokal na magsasaka,” it added.
(We have a sufficient supply of onions. The prices only increased so much because the Marcos Jr. regime allowed cartels to do hoarding, profiteering, and manipulation of onion prices and supply. This was worsened by smuggling onions and other vegetables from China, which kills the local farming industry.)
Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas leads the protest action at the Department of Agriculture office in Quezon City, as progressive groups call for the reduction in prices of basic commodities. Groups claimed that helping farmers, and not importation, would stabilize prices. (Photo from Gabriela Women’s Party)
Last January 10, DA authorized the importation of over 21,000 metric tons of onions to lower market prices. Under the law of supply and demand, prices of goods would go down when there is enough supply.
READ: DA authorizes importation of more than 21,000MT of onions
READ: PH ‘forced to import’ onions due to insufficient local supply, says Marcos
However, this is not the first time the Marcos administration was called out for the rising prices of goods. Before the year ended, Marcos himself said they were mulling whether the government should release onions into the market, so that market prices would go down.
Aside from KMP, several groups staged a protest in front of the DA office. Party-list groups from the Makabayan bloc, including Gabriela, Anakpawis, and other organizations, were also present to call for the lowering of onion prices.