Benguet veggie prices might move with fuel price hikes

March 17, 2022 JUST IN

BAGUIO CITY (March 17, 2022)—-Vegetable traders have no choice but to pass on the additional cost they incur following fuel price hikes, though vegetable farmers could not jack up farmgate prices.
Augusta Balanoy, spokesperson of the League of Associations at the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post said farmers are burdened by the fuel price hikes causing an increase in prices of farm inputs and cost of transportation but they cannot jack up farmgate prices.  She explained that farmgate prices are mainly decided by supply and demand.
But traders can jack up their selling price to cover for the additional fuel expenses,  Balanoy further explained.
Benguet Vegetable Truckers and Traders Association President Rudy Bulawan said they will be imposing a P0.50 per kilo increase in delivery charges starting March 16.
He explained that imposing additional charges is a last resort and is just enough for them to survive.
“Earlier when fuel was still at around P50 per liter, we implemented alternate and combined trips due to the drop in demand, but with the continued fuel price hikes, even this arrangement cannot tide us over,” Bulawan complained.
A 10-wheeler truck, Bulawan said, consumes 200 liters of fuel every trip (back and forth).
Oil prices have been increasing for the past 11 weeks with the biggest price hike implemented March 15.
Caltex, Cleanfuel, Flying V, PTT Philippines, Petron, Seaoil, and Shell announced a PHP7.10 per liter for gasoline and PHP13.15 per liter for diesel increase today. Caltex, Flying V, Petron, Seaoil, and Shell also announced a PHP10.50 per liter increase for kerosene.

Should fuel prices continue to increase, Bulawan said they will be forced to impose additional pass on charges.
“Farmer bearing brunt”
In this situation, Balanoy laments, “it is the farmer and the consumer that bears the brunt of the fuel increases.”
Based on the price monitoring of the Department of Agriculture Cordillera and the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center, movements in the prices of temperate vegetables remained in the same range since last year.
Cabbages are sold at P12 to P13 a kilo; Chinese cabbages P9 to P15, and carrots at P23 to P43 among others.
Balanoy reiterated that farmers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic where vegetable farmgate prices dropped due to a drop in demand.  She mentioned that the drop in demand is attributed to the fact that all businesses are just starting to reopen.  “And the prolonged economic effect of Covid, businesses are still starting to reopen, people are starting to have jobs but still, generally, with all the basic necessities increasing in price, people have no money, thus the low demand,” she added.
She further said that farmers are now struggling with loans since the pandemic hit.   She said that considering the prevailing low prices and low demand during this pandemic, farmers are still in dire need of capitalization.
“Smuggling making things worse”
To make things even worse, vegetable smuggling continues. “We have been complaining (against vegetable smuggling) for nine months now,” she lamented.
Balanoy said, smuggled vegetables continue to flood main markets in the country until today.   She claimed that the volume of confiscated smuggled vegetables is too low considering the volume of those distributed in the markets.
Artemio A. Dumlao