By Prince Golez
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban to meet with egg producers and traders to determine why egg prices have surged in recent weeks despite ample supply in the market.
Marcos Jr. , who also heads the Department of Agriculture, issued this directive in a Cabinet meeting as the government seeks to implement interventions to boost agricultural productivity and ensure the availability of nutritious food at affordable prices.
The President has sought an explanation for recent increases in egg prices, citing a growing disparity between farm gate and retail prices that benefits primarily traders.
“We determined that the increase in the price of eggs is not commensurate to the increase in production cost,” said Marcos Jr.
“So we will have to have a look to see how to control that because we cannot explain almost one-half of the profit margin that we are seeing. We cannot attribute it to cost,” he pointed out.
According to the DA’s price watch as of January 13, medium-sized eggs cost P9, compared to P6.90 in December 2022.
Given the farm gate prices, the department believes eggs should only cost P7 to P7.50 per piece.
Reports showed that eggs are selling for as much as P9.60 per piece.
To address the situation, the agriculture department earlier reconvened the Price and Volume Watch Committee and Advisory Groups for Livestock and Poultry to closely monitor egg prices across the country.
In a January 14 interview, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista said the agency is eliminating “certain layers of traders” to reduce prices of chicken eggs.
“We are coordinating with [Philippine] Egg Board also to see the supply situation, and if there are bottlenecks. Right now, what we are doing also is to eliminate certain layers of traders because that will also help bring down the price,” Evangelista said in a media forum.
“Hopefully, mas maganda ang production also of the eggs. There are some challenges that our egg producers are faced with that is now being addressed by our Bureau of Animal Industry,” she added.
In its report to Malacañang, the DA stated that the farmgate price of medium chicken eggs is P6.97 per piece, 7.89% higher than the price in December 2022.
