Malacañang called for a Food Security Summit Wednesday with local government units and private companies to address the challenges faced by the country’s agriculture sector.
In a statement, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Food Security Summit aims to discuss mitigation measures on the “upsurge in the prices of pork, [the] drop in farm gate prices of palay, [and] the onslaught of the African swine fever (ASF).”
The summit was triggered by the sudden increase of pork prices as hog raisers battle the spread of ASF, which has already led to the culling of close to 500,000 pigs.
Prices of chicken and vegetables have also been on the rise.
“As part of the President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s whole-of-government approach, the summit aims to develop a National Food Security Plan to achieve our vision of a food-secure and resilient Philippines with prosperous farmers and fisherfolk, and where consumers have continuous flow of food and producers have continuous productivity, unhampered movement of agricultural commodities, accessibility and price stability,” he said.
President Duterte has issued Executive Order 124, which imposed a 60-day freeze in the prices of pork and chicken in Metro Manila.
Roque did not say when the summit will be held.
On Tuesday, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said his office is now coordinating with the Department of Agriculture to carry out the plan to lower the suggested retail price (SRP) for imported pork in groceries and supermarkets.
Lopez said the SRP of imported pork in groceries and supermarkets will be lower than the price ceiling set for locally-sourced pork in wet markets.
Supermarket owners and operators on Wednesday pledged their support to the government in its campaign to ensure sufficient supply of pork products in Metro Manila.
Chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said supermarkets in the National Capital Region will be lending a helping hand in the distribution and sale of pork products at their outlets nationwide and in wet markets.
“We laud the initiative of supermarkets in making sure that pork products are accessible and affordable to the public,” Abalos said.
“With the help of the private sector and the local government units, we can expect enough and consistent supply of pork products in the coming days,” he added.
Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar said supermarkets committed to buy live hogs straight from the port area, slaughter them, and distribute it to their outlets.
The move will reduce the number of transactions with middlemen who are manipulating the prices.
“Through this, cost-cutting is easier and retailers can get direct access of the products. [The] price ceiling will be followed if we unmask these traders,” Lopez said.
Anthony Yu of the SM Hypermarkets said that their 300 outlets across the country are ready to help the government to give the sell pork at a price a few pesos cheaper than the implemented ceiling.
The Agriculture Department earlier asked the MMDA for assistance to enjoin the local chief executives to strengthen their respective local price coordinating councils for strict price monitoring amid the imposition of price ceiling in pork and chicken products in Metro Manila.
San Miguel Corporation (SMC) said it is setting the wholesale prices of its pork and chicken products for wet markets at “least cost” to allow distributors and resellers to still make reasonable profits while keeping to government’s 60-day price ceiling in Metro Manila.
The company will also maintain current wholesale price of pork to its Monterey franchisees to keep its meats affordable.
The move aims to protect consumers from manipulators jacking up prices of meats amid the ongoing pandemic and the African swine fever emergency, the company said.
“As a leading food manufacturer, we have a responsibility to the consumers. We want to make sure that the objective of the order is met, and that is to make pork and poultry products still within reach of many Filipinos. Our commitment to government, through the Department of Agriculture (DA), and our countrymen, is that we will deliver goods to our wet market distributors at the least cost. This way, they can pass these on to resellers at still favorable prices, and they can still profit while keeping to the price caps,” said SMC president Ramon S. Ang.
“We will closely monitor prices to make sure those in our chain will follow the price caps. This way, we can help ensure that prices in wet markets will go down to the level of government’s mandated prices, so that more consumers will benefit,” he added.
Ang said that he has also ordered the company’s food unit, San Miguel Foods, to expand distribution and widen its wet market presence, so it can help further keep prices down and supply stable for more Filipinos.
Also on Wednesday, Senator Leila de Lima said the “pork holiday” observed by meat retailers in response to the government’s price ceiling was the result of long-term neglect by the administration.
She criticized the administration for focusing on red-tagging activists and universities while rice, vegetables and meat were being smuggled into the country.
“Because of this, local suppliers incurred losses while meat with African swine fever and other illnesses continue to enter our local market,” De Lima said.