The government’s plan to set a suggested retail price (SRP) for various farm goods drew mixed reactions from consumers and vendors who regarded the proposal as a “double-edged sword.”
Some consumers and vendors interviewed by the BusinessMirror threw their support behind the SRP scheme, saying it could help stabilize food prices. But some small-scale retailers are averse to the proposal, saying it could cut their profit margins “drastically.”
The Department of Agriculture (DA) earlier announced that it would come out with the SRPs for farm commodities this week. Commodities that would be covered by the SRP scheme include rice (regular-milled and well-milled varieties), galunggong, tilapia, milkfish, pechay and eggplant.
Jahn Derikka Tinampay, 23, said setting an SRP for agriculture products would help buyers like him as it would serve as a guide and allow him to better manage his spending.
“Prices at the market should revolve around the SRP. As far as I know, under the law, prices should not increase by more than 10 percent. Vendors should base their mark-ups on the SRP,” Tinampay said.
Sheila Bartolome, 45, said the SRP would protect consumers against unscrupulous vendors. “The SRP scheme would be a big help for us consumers and retailers if it would be implemented properly.”
While vendors do not necessarily have to abide by the SRPs set by the government, Ruby Lavezna said it would prevent unscrupulous vendors from taking undue advantage of consumers.
“The SRP scheme would combat overpricing [as] prices would be uniform,” Lavezna, a stall owner at Talipapa Public Market in Parañaque, said.
But for Charing Doctor, 27, imposing SRPs on farm products could backfire as it could slash their profits.
“Sometimes [the SRP] is okay, but sometimes it is not. It is okay in the sense that our consumers will not anymore complain or say that our prices are too high due to markups,” Doctor, a retailer at the Trabajo wet market, told the
BusinessMirror.
“But it is not also good for retailers like me because our profit would shrink. In these trying times, a profit margin of P1 or P2 is not enough to live on,” she added.
Lailani Allid, another vendor at the Trabajo wet market, echoed Doctor’s sentiment, adding it is the small-scale retailers who would be left empty-handed if they would lower their markups.
“The ones that are cornered due to increasing prices are vendors like me. Capital expenses for our wares continue go up so we have no choice but to also increase prices,” Allid said.
Jay Guzon, a sari-sari store owner in Verdant, Las Piñas, said setting SRPs for farm products may do more harm than good to his business. “If you are getting your goods at a higher price than the SRP and you are just reselling it, then you will lose a lot of profit.”
Guzon said the government should explore the possibility of setting SRPs at the farm-gate level. “I hope the SRP starts at the farm level so sellers will have uniform prices. This, in turn, would result in fair prices for farm goods sold at the retail level.”
Economist Pablito M. Villegas earlier told the BusinessMirror that it is time for the government to set SRPs for farm products to drive profiteers out of business.
“[It is time to address] the oligopolistic situation of the market, which is highly influenced by traders, millers and middlemen. You will see a very huge difference between farm-gate price and the market price of farm products today,” Villegas said in an interview.
“There is so much profiteering [in] the supply chain, which should be drastically reduced. The only countervailing force is to impose this and apprehend the people who are doing excessive profiteering,” he added.
Jenn Kiana Louise N. Cardeño and Monique Danielle A. Fernando
Image credits: Nonie Reyes