Cynthia Villar says garlic traders earn P26-B per year

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MANILA, Philippines—Garlic traders would earn at least P26 billion a year if they sell their produce at P200 per kilo, Senator  Cynthia Villar said on Thursday.

Villar came up with this computation on Thursday during the hearing of the committee on agriculture, which she heads.

With the estimated 128 million kilos annual consumption of garlic in the country, the senator said, traders would earn P26 billion a year if the price was pegged at P200 per kilo.

The current price of garlic in the market, however, is P280 to P300 per kilo.

“The profit is P26 billion a year,” Villar said in a mix of English and Filipino. “And why the Price Monitoring Council will not do something about it? When I computed it, I was also shocked. And that’s just garlic, garlic.”

“We’re in the wrong business, we should go to garlic trading,”   she added.

But Villar was shocked   that the price of garlic shot up to P280 per kilo when its landed cost was only P17.

“How come it became P280? Why in heaven’s name? “Who is at fault here why we allowed P17 per kilo to become P280 per kilo in retail?”

Villar warned garlic cooperatives against possible collusion with traders by selling their import permits to them, like what happened with some farmer cooperatives, which allegedly sold their permits to rice   traders.

In fact, she   said, there was a rumor that there were garlic cooperatives which sold their import permits to traders at P100,000 per 50 tons.

“Director Barron, that’s what they’re telling us, in the  committee and they have a report. There’s a  documented report that they are complaining against you,” Villar said.

The senator was referring to Director Clarito Barron of the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Pant and Industry, who was present in the hearing.