Fish, vegetable prices soar

Metro Manila residents will have to pay more for fish and vegetables as roads leading from vegetable farms in northern Luzon remain mostly impassable while fishponds in Central Luzon have yet to be rehabilitated.

According to Agriculture Assistant Secretary Salvador Salacup, the delivery of vegetables from the Cordillera region—where 65 percent of the vegetables sold in the metropolis come from—has yet to normalize more than a week after Typhoon “Quiel” ravaged parts of Luzon.

On a normal day, at least 65 trucks make their way to Metro Manila from the La Trinidad Trading Post, the center of vegetable marketing in the region, Salacup said Monday.

After Quiel, the figure went down to 45 trucks with some of them forced to take a longer route to bypass Halsema Highway, parts of which were destroyed by the typhoon.

Salacup said that with fewer vegetables reaching Metro Manila, prices have gone up by an average of P10.

“Hopefully, by the end of the week, [prices will go back to] normal,” he added as he noted that the Department of Public Works and Highways has been fast-tracking the clearing of major roads from Central Luzon.

Based on the latest data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, the prices of tomatoes, okra, amargoso, eggplant, stringbean (sitao) and pechay native went up in the past week.

“Okra cleared bulk outlets at triple the prevailing price of P20 per kilogram last week. Compared with [the] previous week’s quotations, prices of amargoso, eggplant and sitao increased by 100 percent, 40 percent and 25 percent per kilogram, respectively,” the bureau said in its October 7 report.

“Habitchuelas and potato, among the temperate vegetables, were also priced higher by 50 percent and 25 percent, respectively,” it added.

The same report also noted that floods spawned by Typhoons “Pedring” and Quiel destroyed fish farms in northern Manila and Central Luzon, causing a tightening in supply.

“It was noted that floods in Pangasinan, Bulacan, Malabon and Navotas caused the loss of bangus (milkfish) stocked in most ponds,” the bureau said.

“Prices easily reacted to the supply deficit. The P90 per kilogram prevailing retail price last week rose to P100 this week. However, tilapia stayed at P90 per kilogram even after Pedring and Quiel,” it added.

Although there have been problems in the supply of vegetables and fish, Salacup stressed that the country’s rice supply has not been affected.

According to him, the government has stocked enough rice in warehouses to last between 80 and 85 days. “We have nothing to worry about until the end of the year. We have available basic staples,” he said.

Salacup added that the country was considering importing rice next year to sustain its buffer stocks although discussions have been put on hold until officials verify the extent of the damage wrought by the typhoons on rice crops in Luzon.