The Consumer Advocates Inc. (CAI) is pushing for the creation of an inter-agency task force that will monitor the prices of commodities, particularly fish, in the local markets.
It is not clear, however, which agency has jurisdiction or the responsibility to regulate the prices of fish, which unusually skyrocketed in recent weeks especially in the Dumaguete public market.
Javier Fortunato Jr., provincial director of the Department of Trade & Industry, confirmed Friday that the CAI and DTI met last week to discuss the complaints raised by residents and netizens on the unusually-high prices of fish in Dumaguete for several weeks now.
Fortunato reiterated his earlier statement that DTI is “only a support agency”, and takes on a “reactive stand” as it is not their mandate and have no jurisdiction over regulating prices of fish.
He said his agency’s mandate covers only manufactured goods and other commodities. Fish, according to Fortunato, is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources.
BFAR, however, had announced that their mandate does not include price monitoring and control.
The question now is who is the proper agency or authority that has the responsibility to check on the prices of fish at the Dumaguete market, according to Mark Raygan Garcia, CAI founding member.
Garcia on Friday also disclosed that the CAI had tackled during their meeting this week concerns such as the law of supply and demand which is being blamed for the skyrocketing of prices of fish in the local market.
Another concern was to determine whether, indeed, there was a lack of supply of fish at the Dumaguete market and if so, what were the reasons behind it, Garcia said.
The CAI, headed by Linda Basmayor, issued a statement Thursday expressing their concern over the spike of prices of fish in recent weeks, which the group noted had continued to climb to unusual levels since the start of the holiday season and onwards.
“CAI recognizes price fluctuations for certain goods, such as fish, as understandable, especially during the holidays and when there are weather disturbances that affect the market’s ability to meet demand. But the jump in the price was seemingly unprecedented and came across irregular to ordinary consumers,” the statement said.
Garcia explained their group is seeking technical expertise to look into the volume of fish coming in to Dumaguete.
It is understandable that prices of fish increase usually during the holiday season, during or after a storm or when it’s full moon, but the prices bounce back days later. However, in this case, it took weeks until now for the prices to be “higher than normal”, according to CAI.
Prices of first class fish, such as tarugho (blue marlin), went up as much as P800 per kilo, when the usual price range is only between P300-380.
Even the P200-below price of galunggong (hard tail mackerel), and manulsog pula’g ikog (round scad) — so-called poor man’s fish — increased in the past weeks.
Garcia further explained they hope that government agencies and the local government unit of Dumaguete would step in and do something concrete, such as creating a task force for price monitoring, rather than simply attribute the price hike to the law of supply and demand.
The CAI also noted there is no regular monitoring system, no available historical price data and price fluctuations of fish, and “weak coordination among government agencies in the analysis and dissemination of data.”
As of Friday, Fortunato said the prices of fish have slowly dropped to as much as P400 a kilo for the first class types, but he could not say for sure whether this has something to do with supply and demand or because of the media hype.
He said he has talked to Dumaguete Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo regarding the proposed creation of a task force but the local chief executive said he would still look into this.
DTI local chief Fortunato had earlier clarified that the agency has no jurisdiction over the prices of fish sold in the market and thus cannot impose regulations in the skyrocketing of prices as reported lately.
The DTI had called for a consultative dialogue Monday with fish vendors, the Market Enterprises Office, the BFAR, and those assigned at the fish terminal of the Dumaguete public market, in response to complaints regarding the increase in fish prices.
Fish vendors claim that the increase in fish prices is due to the lack of supply, and the high demand for fish.
Fortunato disclosed that according to Engr. Jojo Fortin of the city’s Market Enterprises Office, the public market usually has a supply of 30 tons of fish a day, but now it has dropped to about 11 tons on the average.
He said consumers have to look for “alternatives” while the prices of fish are high, such as eating pork or chicken for the meantime, or buying lower-class fish.
The DTI official also reiterated that fish vendors claimed they are only dependent on the supply of fish that reaches the public market and thus, the prices vary.
Consumers in Dumaguete have noted that smaller towns, such as nearby Sibulan and Bacong, are selling fish at a much lower price. (With a report from Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)
