Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol has challenged the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to run after the “real” cartel allegedly behind the manipulation of retail prices of pork, rice and poultry products in the market, instead of “nitpicking” on broiler raisers that are losing money.
Piñol made the pronouncement during a recent news briefing wherein he pointed out that the proposed price fixing by broiler raisers to cut their losses is more of a “survival” measure rather than a “cartel” act.
“The spirit of the law is to protect the consumers [from profiteering]. Now, this is a group of farmers trying to survive [because they have been] losing money for so many weeks,” he said last Monday.
“I call on to the PCC to run after the real cartel that is manipulating the prices of hogs, chicken and rice in the market. That’s the real cartel they should [go] after and not these farmers that are helping each other to overcome this [economic] challenge,” he added.
Last week Piñol proposed that broiler raisers should agree to increase their selling prices by P10 per kilogram weekly until such time that they reach a breakeven level.
Local broiler raisers are reeling from a supply glut that has lowered farm-gate prices below profitable level.
Farm-gate prices recently averaged at P65 per kilogram, with some areas dropping to P38 per kilogram, which is nowhere near the estimated cost-to-produce level of P80 to P85 per kilogram.
The PCC said that Piñol’s proposal of price fixing was illegal and in violation of Section 14(a) of the Philippine Competition Act. The PCC advised the Department of Agriculture to implement “pro-competitive” forms of assistance, such as agricultural credit access or provision of research and extension services to boost the productivity of poultry raisers.
“I vehemently deny that there was any intention on the part of the Department of Agriculture to cartelize the chicken farmers. We were just trying to help them,” Piñol said.
Piñol said the Food Terminal Inc. is set to negotiate with broiler raisers for the purchase of their produce at a “better” price compared to the prevailing farm-gate prices. The FTI would store the chicken in their cold storages and would release them to the market when supply is thin, he added.
Furthermore, Piñol said the DA is mulling over the tweaking of the importation system of meat imports through the minimum access volume (MAV).
He explained that he wants meat imports to enter the country on a quarterly basis to avoid flooding the market during peak seasons, such as Christmas, which leads to oversupply and lower farm-gate prices for broiler.
“We cannot stop the importation. What we need to do in order not to harm the farmers is to ensure that the MAV allocation for the whole year is brought in on a quarterly basis, not only in the last quarter,” Piñol said.
“Poultry farmers themselves increase their production in anticipation of better sales during the last quarter,” Pinol added.
Piñol said the DA would also come up with a system that provides necessary information to farmers on the present market supply and demand situation to guide them on how to manage better their production cycles.