Inflation would accelerate in the coming months as the government is ill-prepared to deal with the country’s food supply problems, according to the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI).
PCAFI President Danilo V. Fausto issued the statement after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday that the inflation rate rose to a 2-year high in January. Inflation in January reached 4.2 percent mainly due to expensive food, particularly pork products, according to data from the PSA.
Fausto said foresight and proper planning could have prevented high prices, particularly that of pork.
One of the culprits of the woes currently plaguing consumers, he said, is the lack of a sound government data system, which was mandated by Republic Act 8178, or the Agricultural Tarrification Act.
The lack of accurate and reliable data, he said, makes it difficult for the government to make an informed policy decision to address problems hounding the agricultural sector.
He said this oversight has resulted in disputes over pork supply and demand in the country.
Fausto also said the government’s lack of foresight in addressing the African swine fever (ASF) problem as early as 2019 has also exacerbated the food supply woes.
The PCAFI chief said the decision of the government to impose price ceilings would only worsen the supply problem as hog raisers would be discouraged to restock given their difficulty in complying with the mandated price cap.
Compounding the food supply problem, he said, is the increase in chicken prices. He noted that the current price of a day-old chick is around P50 each, while the farm-gate price of broiler is at P130 per kilogram.
Fausto said the government should hike its investments in the livestock and poultry sectors considering that the two sectors contribute about a third of total agricultural output.
He noted that the livestock and poultry subsector receives only about 3 percent of the DA’s annual budget.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said, however, that it is now taking steps to revive the hog sector and boost the supply of pork, particularly in the National Capital Region. Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said he met with hog producers from the Soccsksargen region to discuss collaborative actions in line with the “whole of nation” strategies.
Dar said hog producers have committed to transport hogs from Mindanao, Visayas, and some parts of Luzon, including Batangas to be delivered to Metro Manila markets and sold at the ceiling price imposed by Executive Order (EO) 124.
The DA said in a statement that Dar together with Agriculture Undersecretary for Livestock William Medrano and Region 12 Executive Director Arlan Mangelen, led the send-off of two trucks containing 130 heads of live hogs each, weighing a total of 26.4 metric tons, on February 6.
On Monday, representatives from DA are set to have a dialogue with the raisers of Luzon for the possible transport of hogs from San Jose, Batangas.
The DA said Clinton Edward Ang, president of the South Cotabato Swine Producers’ Association said that his group is willing to work with DA, in the transport and delivery of live hogs and carcasses to Luzon, initially at 10,000 hogs a week.
Read full article on BusinessMirror