Consumer power vs. overpriced pork and chicken

Now is the time for consumers to use their “market power” in the ongoing war between government and price manipulators. Now is the time for people to end the long running tyranny of “overpriced” and “manipulated’’ food in our public wet markets. Now is the time to fight back against buwayaheros, hoarders, food cartels who always claim higher costs in jacking up their prices.

We were always willing victims of these greedy traders and price manipulators of pork, chicken, rice, vegetables, and fish with their dubious supply and demand issues. In the past, they escaped punishment because of “turf issues” between national regulators such as Dept of Agriculture, Department of Trade Industry as against LGUs who have the actual police power to padlock these illegal businesses.

Today, government is acting correctly. Executive order 124 was issued for a 60-day price control in Metro Manila, P270/kilo for pork kasim, P300/kilo for pork liempo and P160/kilo for “whole dressed chicken”. Violators will be charged with fines from P5,000 to P2M and imprisoned from 5 months to 15 years under the Price Control law (Republic act 7581). Local governments will suspend or cancel business permits of “retailers”, whole sellers and biyaheros, if they sell beyond the set prices.

Now, the implementation of price control is at “palengke level” initiated by the newly activated Local Price Coordinating councils under the 17 NCR mayors of Metro Manila Mayors Council and MMDA chair Benhur Abalos. On the ground, “city market masters” of all public markets will monitor the daily prices by the sellers.

Even the NBI has been tasked by DOJ Sec. Meynardo Guevarra to go after these illegal price manipulators.

In return, wet market traders declared a pork holiday insisting ‘set prices’ are too low and that “supply costs” are higher. Earlier, they threatened to limit deliveries to Metro Manila and instead sell these to nearby provinces unaffected by EO 124. These non-deliveries triggered empty wet markers in Quinta, San Andres in Manila, Marikina and other cities.

Clearly, government is now being challenged here by the cabal of price manipulators, “buwayaheros” and cartel, who instigate the loud wails and complaints of market stall owners. These lowly retailers only gain P20 mark-up on every kilo of pork or chicken but they have no control on the rising daily prices of deliveries by the cabal. They are also at the mercy of usurious 5/6 lenders who take advantage of the daily transactions.

P5M loan subsidy (zero interest) to each NCR wet market

I was told by MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos that Agriculture secretary William Dar is appropriating P5 million (Zero interest) for every public wet market in Metro Manila to help the market vendors meet their daily “hulog” (amortization) to their lenders. This is to keep their stalls open, while government ensures adequate supply of pork and chicken.

There are artificial shortages today in NCR caused by non-deliveries of “buwayaheros” thru their “pork holiday protest”, but fresh supplies will be coming from Visayas and Mindanao and Sec. Dar expects this to stabilize within the week.

So here, we would want to see which side blinks first.

But to me, the “tingi-tingi” consumers of public wet markets are finally being protected from “overpriced pork and chicken”. These poor people patronize wet markets hoping for cheapest prices, but in the are victimized. Middle class consumers are better because they buy from malls, supermarkets, groceries and outlet retailers who comply with government SRPs.

Again, I believe now is the best time for all of us to seriously follow government’s 60-day freeze order here in NCR. Avoid public wet markets with its “overpriced” pork chicken, fish and other items. Let these business cabals feel our disgust over their insensitive greed and abuse of supply and demand in our food.

Let us put these “price manipulators” and their cohorts in their right places, jail, hefty fines or out of business.