Philippine Government, Retailers Agree On Suggested Retail Price For Pork, Chicken, Sugar

November 30, 2009 9:22 a.m. EST

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - The Philippine Department of Agriculture released over the weekend suggested retail prices for three basic commodities usually in high demand for the holiday season. These are pork, chicken and sugar.

Agriculture Undersecretary Salvador Salacup said the SRP is for farmers, middlemen, slaughterhouse operators, meat dealers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers.

Under the SRP, refined white sugar price is from 87 to 91 cents (P41 to P43) a kilogram, whole dressed chicken $2.86 to $3.07 (P135 to P145) a kilo and pork $3.39 to $3.71 (P160 to P175), depending on the cut.

The SRP was drawn up based on agreement between the Philippine government and the private sector made during a meeting on Friday. The SRP would initially be implemented in Metro Manila, but may later be implemented in other parts of the country.

Salacup said in a statement, "The DA - Agricultural Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS), DA - Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) and the DTI will regularly make the rounds of retail outlets every morning to ensure that sellers follow the SRPs. We will conduct a weekly review to find out whether we should lower or raise the SRPs or whether it is already time to lift them considering several factors affect the volatility of agricultural commodity prices."