Bakit Mahal Ang Pagkain? Kalabasa Sa SoCot P3/kilo Pagdating sa Iloilo P22 Na!

The 4-hour-30-minute ferry boat ride between Dapitan City to Dumaguete City yesterday gave me a deeper insight on our flawed and antiquated food marketing and what needs to be done to bring down the prices of food in the big cities of the country.

I had a short talk with two people involved in the transport of vegetables from Mindanao to the Visayas.

One of the men said he was buying vegetables from Bulua, the consolidation center for Bukidnon vegetables in Cagayan de Oro City and brings these to the market in Dumaguete City.

Bulua is where the financiers of the vegetable farmers are based and their financing carries an agreement that the farmers would deliver their harvest to them at a price they set.

Mura ang bili sa farmer ng patatas, about P30 to P40 per kilo but when these are sold to buyers from the Visayas, the price goes up to P65 or a mark-up of between P25 to P30 per kilo for the middlemen.

Mas matindi ang kwento ng driver ng 10-wheeler Wing Van which picks up Kalabasa produced by farmers in South Cotabato.

He said the comprador from Iloilo buys the Kalabasa at P3 per kilo, pays him a transport fee of P5 per kilo and the same Kalabasa is sold for P22 in Iloilo.

When I talked to him, he had a load of 26 tons. This means that the farmer or farmers of South Cotabato who planted and harvested the Kalabasa earned P78,000.

The has a mark up of P5 per kilo for transporting 26 tons of Kalabasa or a gross earning of P130,000 every week.

The trader, he said, sells the Kalabasa in Iloilo for P22 per kilo or a gross earning of P572,000 which means a net profit of P364,000 after deducting the farmers‘ income of P78,000 and the trucker’s fee of P130,000.

Mas malaki pa ang income ng trader at middleman kaysa magsasaka na naghirap and this is simply because he has the money and the marketing network to move the product.

Ito ang simpleng explanation kung bakit mahal ang mga pagkain sa mga pamilihan ng malalaking siyudad.

This is one of the institutional reforms which could be achieved through legislation in the Senate.

What needs to be done is to review, fund and expand the operations of the Food Terminal Inc. to allow it to establish Regional Food Consolidation Centers in the production areas.

The Regional Food Consolidation Centers will buy the Kalabasa of the farmers of South Cotabato at a fair price and reposition these in Iloilo or other areas where similar FTI Farmers’ and Fishermen’s Outlets or Tienda Ng Magsasaka at Mangingisda would be located.

Sa Metro Manila, for example, puedeng palibutan ng mga Tienda Outlets ang boung KaMaynilaan or Metro Cebu na kung saan makakabili ng sariwang isda, manok, karne, gulay at mga prutas ang mga pamilyang Pilipino sa abot-kayang halaga.

With government intervention, the flawed marketing system of agricultural commodities in the country could be corrected.

The net result of this would be better income for the farmers and fishermen who would be motivated to produce more and access to fresh food items and savings on the part of the metropolitan consumers.

Ito ang sagot sa Inflation, hindi unlimited Importation.

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!

(This video was prepared by the media team of the Biyaheng Senado ni Manny Piñol in the Port of Dumaguete City yesterday.)