Average prices of meat, particularly pork and chicken, have yet to stabilize in Negros Occidental even as the price cap in Metro Manila is expected to affect the wet market prices in the province.
This week’s monitoring of Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) showed that prices are still high for at least the third consecutive week, with pork now averaging at ₱ 225.10 per kilogram, higher by ₱ 20.34 higher compared to only ₱ 204.76 last week.
Dr. Renante Decena, provincial veterinarian, said in a statement on Wednesday that local meat vendors still have previous orders with high live weight price, which is still reflected in the current average prices.
He added that some backyard raisers also hold on to their supply, waiting for prices to increase as the live weight price has already gone down to ₱ 125 to ₱ 150 per kilogram.
“Let’s see the result in the coming days on how traders and buyers will strategize and how the market will react,” Decena said as the price ceiling took effect on Feb. 8.
Also, the prevailing average price of chicken is now at ₱ 182.96 per kilogram, which is higher by ₱ 23.51 compared to the previous week’s ₱ 159.35.
In its monitoring, the PVO also noted an increase of ₱ 3.43 in the price of carabeef (carabao meat) — from ₱ 264.40 per kilogram last week to ₱ 267.83 this week.
The prevailing average price of beef is ₱ 280.95 from the previous ₱ 274.45, with an increase of ₱ 6.50 per kilogram while ₱ 8.00 increase was observed in the price of chevon (goat meat) — from ₱ 329.33 last week to ₱ 337.39 per kilogram this week.
(Erwin Nicavera via Philippine News Agency (PNA), photo courtesy of PNA)