There is an urgent need for the Department of Agriculture (DA) to sustain efforts in keeping inflation low, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on Tuesday.
“Now that we’ve helped lower inflation, the DA’s next challenge is to tackle rice and pork issues to keep food inflation in check,” Tiu Laurel said in a statement .
Headline inflation eased to 0.9 percent in July from 1.4 percent in June, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Tuesday morning.
Tiu Laurel added that the government is working to curb high pork prices, which remain elevated due to tight domestic supply caused by the African Swine Fever (ASF).
The DA is pushing for the commercial availability of an ASF vaccine by year-end and is reviewing pork import policies to help stabilize prices.
Farmgate prices drop
Jayson Cainglet, executive director of the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag), raised concerns over the continued drop in farmgate prices of palay and other key commodities such as pork and chicken.
“The PSA lens is focused on retail prices,” Cainglet said. “So interventions protect importers, traders, and consumers. The mindset is that more imports mean lower prices — but we’ve proven this narrative false.”
He argued that increased imports have not benefited consumers, but instead harmed domestic food production and led to billions in foregone government revenues.
“Farmgate price of palay is down 60 to 70 percent — from P23–P24 to just P8–P10 per kilo. The PSA should also look into this, so our farming communities are protected — not just consumers,” Cainglet added.
Raul Montemayor, national manager of the Federation of Free Farmers, noted that even if inflation is slowing, prices remain high.
“Because the inflation rate reflects price movements relative to a base period, you can have a low rate of increase even when prices are still elevated,” he said. “Food prices may have stabilized a bit but are still erratic.”
Danilo Fausto, president of the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc., said he does not believe the local agri sector contributed significantly to the lower inflation rate — except in the case of rice.
“Crops are slightly more expensive during the wet season because of production challenges due to rains,” Fausto said.
Energy sector
In the energy sector, Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance president Alexander Ablaza said lower electricity demand after the summer months helped reduce the electricity price index in July.
“Not only did the heat index drop from its summer peak, but frequent rains in July lowered ambient temperatures further, significantly reducing electricity demand for cooling,” he said.
Ablaza added that this easing of demand helped reduce pressure on the grid to dispatch more expensive peaking power plants.
