Hike in pork, beef prices prompts DA to inspect QC markets

Prices of pork and beef spiked up in at least two major wet markets in Quezon City, prompting the Department of Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap to personally inspect the situation on Friday morning. GMA News reported that Yap inspected the Mega Q-Mart wet market in Quezon City to discover that the price of pork has already risen up to P155 per kilogram, a steep P20-increase, while the price of beef, which was previously pegged between P190 to P220 a kilo, has gone as high as P240, the report added. At the Kamuning Market, also in Quezon City, the price of beef shot up by P30 and is at P230 a kilo, while pork is being sold at P150 from P140 per kilo. When asked what prompted them to increase the prices of their meat, the vendors told Yap that the rising petroleum prices in the world market was to blame. "Hindi natin inaasahan bigla tumataas din ang presyo ng gasolina. Yung mga bumabyahe ng baka syempre gumagamit ng sasakyan sa araw araw yan kada byahe. So pag tumaas ang gasolina ganun rin ang ipapatong nila sa karne (The price of gasoline would unexpectedly rise. Of course, meat dealers use vehicles every time they transport meat. So the increase in gasoline price would be relative to the increase in meat prices)," a meat vendor said. Other vendors also cited the shortage in meat supply and the increasing price of poultry feeds as other factors in the sudden spike of prices of meat. For his part, Yap admitted to being surprised by the situation because in other wet markets, he said that vendors have reportedly been able to keep prices at bay amid the mounting prices of feeds and petroleum. The Agriculture cited as an example the Commonwealth Market, also in Quezon City, where the price of pork remains locked at P135 per kilogram. Yap also allayed fears of a looming shortage in the country's meat supply, adding that he has already enlisted the three largest hog raisers in the Philippines to help in easing the rising prices of their poultry products. "Puwede pang ibaba sa tingin namin. Kaya para sa mga mamimili natin, tumawad kayo (We think the prices can still be For our consumers, try negotiatiating for a lower price)," Yap advised. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV