As part of my “preparation” for my new task as a Senator by June 30, Inshallah, I have started a nationwide journey which I call Biyaheng Bukid or Biyaheng Senado, to determine the problems confronting our country’s farmers who had been unjustly described as “not competitive” comapared to farmers in Vietnam and Thailand.
On Saturday and Sunday, right after filing my Certificate of Candidacy for Senator, I went up to the Cordillera to start a nationwide journey to look into how we could improve the income of our food producers while at the same time ensuring our consumers in Metro Manila of affordable and fresh farm products.
I went to the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center, the vegetable consolidation area in La Trinidad, to talk to Carrot farmers and the first layer of traders and middlemen enroute to the markets in Balintawak and Divisoria to the dining tables of consumers living in the big cities.
Carrots was the commodity which I focused on because there was a controversy two weeks ago about the smuggling of Carrots from China, shiny and nice looking, which were sold at prices lower than those coming from the Cordilleras.
Bakit ang smuggled Carrots ay binebenta lang ng P50 to P60 pero ang local P80 hanggang P100.
In fact, there was a time when I was Agriculture Secretary that prices of Carrots went up to as high as P300 per kilo following a strong typhoon which damaged farm to market roads in the Cordillera.
Ang mga Carrots na galing sa Cordillera which are sold in the market in Metro Manila from P80 to P100 per kilo were actually bought from the farmers of the mountain provinces for only P20 to P25 per kilo.
In the IMMATASULA Vegetable Production Complex of Bukidnon, farmers are happy with P10 to P15 per kilo for their Carrots which are brought to Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City and distributed all over Mindanao or brought to Cebu City and the Visayas by boat.
The inside story of how that price of Carrots ballooned from P20 at farm gate to P100 in the market is a narrative of how weak our food distribution system is in the Philippines and how traders and middlemen have exploited this.
When Benguet Carrot farmers deliver their produce to the BAPTC, these are received by stall operators who are actually the first layer of middlemen.
Last Sunday, the price of Carrots was “good” for the farmers at P35 per kilo but you have to deduct the transport and handling from the farm to the BAPTC.
Ang estimate ko, malinis na kita ng Carrot farmer ay P20 per kilo.
Pagkabenta ng farmer, nililinis ang Carrots by workers of the first buyer then placed in plastic containers of 10 kilos each and these are passed on to the second layer of traders at P45 to P50 per kilo.
Ang income ng first traders is between P10 to P15 per kilo.
From BAPTC, the second trader with hauling trucks bring the Carrots to other parts of Luzon, Bicol and even Visayas but most of these are brought to Balintawak and Division in Metro Manila.
In Balintawak and Divisoria, the second trader passes on the Carrots to a third trader but with a mark up of about P15 to P20 per kilo to cover the cost of transport, including the payment of toll fees at TPLEX and NLEX.
The Divisoria and Balintawak traders, the third in the line, receive the Carrots and distribute these to another layer of middlemen who distribute these to the vendors who in turn raise the price by about P5 to P10 per kilo to cover their stall rentals.
Computing all these layers of middlemen and the mark ups they make on the Carrots originally bought from the farmers for P35 in BAPTC, it is now clear why in Divisoria and Balintawak, the price would go up to as high as P100 to P150 per kilo.
So, what should be done to ensure that the Carrot farmers get a fair income for their labor and the consumers are given access to affordable and safe Carrots?
Anong marketing system ang dapat i-adopt natin sa Pilipinas upang maiwasan ang patong-patong na presyo sa napakamurang Carrots ng Benguet upang ang mga mamimili sa siyudad ay hindi aaray at bibili na lang ng imported na Carrots na pinunasan ng preservatives?
Bukas, sa second part of this report, we will spell out the solution and the legislation needed to address to address this problem.
#PagkainAtTrabahoParaSaPilipino!
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
(Video by Mayette Tudlas)
https://www.facebook.com/100044577333084/videos/260706912649992
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