Agricultural groups led by Tugon Kabuhayan has called on the government to grant subsidies on the transport of agricultural products and help cut middlemen in trade.
They said this would narrow the gap between farmgate and retail prices and lower the cost of fresh producer for consumers.
Chester Warren Tan, president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc., said in a briefing yesterday the Philippines should consider deploying government- owned transportation for the carriage of farm products.
Tan did not provide details of the proposal but said this is one sure way of pulling down transportation cost of goods which is one of the biggest factors that drive up prices from farmgate to retail.
Tan said for pork, the retail price is usually three times the farmgate price.
Agot Balanoy, public relations officer of the League of Associations at the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading, said for their crops go through 7 to 8 layers of middlemen before they arrive at public markets.
David Villaluz, chairman of the Philippine Association of Fish Producers Inc., said bangus or milkfish need not go through the five to six middlemen if there are investments in cold storage and processing plants.
Leonardo Montemayor, chairman of the Federation of Free Farmers, said barangay and local trading posts should also be further strengthened to “keep the line between production and consumer side as short as possible.”
The DA last year started strengthening traceability systems in the trading of livestock and poultry to ensure compliance with government policies and curb potential price manipulation. The plan was to link the registration and accreditation process from local government units to the national agencies such as the Bureau of Animal Industry and the National Meat Inspection Service.
The DA earlier cited incomplete records of middlemen and traders as a perennial problem in the livestock sector, making it difficult for government agencies to impose strict regulation of the movement of farm animals as well as meat to address supply fluctuation and price manipulation.
Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday warned of possible abuse of the use of government funds once a state of agricultural emergency is declared.
Gatchalian made the statement after officials of the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) bared President Marcos was open to declare a state of emergency to address the country’s problems on food supply.
In an interview on Unang Balita, Gatchalian said such declaration should be thoroughly studied since government funds can readily be used without bidding.
“As I understand it, government funds will be utilized without bidding. So, that means, the government can directly deal with suppliers,” Gatchalian said.
He said there were instances in the past that resulted to “problems” when the government directly buys from suppliers since there will be no “check and balance in place.”
Senator Joel Villanueva said instead of declaring a state of emergency, the government might want to study the possibility of distributing funds to local government units for their respective food production which can generate jobs.
Villanueva said funds for government projects might be “sacrificed” if the budget will be reallocated.
“Villanueva said the Senate will ask the DA to give its report or assessment of the state of the agricultural sector and present its plans together with the PCAFI. – With Raymond Africa
