TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) -- To address concerns on the overpricing of basic necessities and prime commodities, the provincial government in Bohol is urging local government units (LGUs) here to reactivate their price monitoring councils. 

Bohol Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado has issued Memorandum Circular No. 1 urging the LGUs to reactivate and mobilize their local price coordinating councils in a bid to reduce the high cost of food items, especially the price of fish in Bohol markets. 

The governor’s directive is in line with Joint Memorandum Circular No. 3 of 2020 from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Health, Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which aims to strengthen the role of municipal price coordinating councils (MPCCs). 

“This is a good development as local government units play a big role in enforcing price controls,” said DTI officer-in-charge Vierna Teresa Ligan. 

DTI is mandated to keep the price of manufactured goods and basic manufactured commodities and has the enforcement power on manufactured goods. 

Aumentado emphasized that monitoring the prices of goods requires a collective effort from LGUs through a "whole-of-province” approach.

The MPCCs can recommend suggested retail prices while analyzing market price changes. 

It also has the authority to establish a task force and initiate legal action against those violating the law. 

Smart solution

Hog industry stakeholders here see the move to reactivate the local price monitoring councils as a smart solution to Bohol’s price problem. 

Ponciano Sumampong, a hog grower from Barangay Cantigdas, Batuan, said middlemen buy live hogs at low farm-gate prices and then sell the meat for as much as P300 per kilo in the market, which he said translates to a 100 percent profit for one day. 

“Buying the meat at P160 per kilo of live hog and selling it at P320 is already too much,” said Sumampong during the recent Consultative Conference for Local Swine Traders, Buyers and Raisers organized by the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPV). 

Even if they buy at P160 and sell it at P280, the seller can still earn a good profit, he added. 

Overpricing

Based on the OPV Live Hog and Pork Price Bulletin issued February 2, live hog weighing over 80 kilos is sold at P160 to P200 a kilo, a lechonon at P200 to P290 a kilot, while the market price for pork ranges from P290 to P350. 

Edgar Suarez, a hog feeds agent from Unifeeds, said that since their production cost is at P133, if these are sold at P160, hog fattening may not be sustainable anymore. 

Sumampong said experimenting on commercial feeds and a mix of organic supplements allowed him to get a P145 per kilo production cost. 

“At that price, for a hog weighing over 100 kilos, one can already earn a P3,000 profit. Even at P160 buying price, you can still sell it at P280 and have a good profit,” he said. 

Consumers have also raised concerns of overpricing on fish products and the price of palay, which is bought at P20 per kilo but sold at P50 a kilo.  (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)