CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Thursday that the prices of vegetables and basic commodities are seen to stabilize this December.
The DA said the stability of vegetable prices, especially during the holiday season, will depend if good weather continues, after a series of typhoons ravaged vegetable-producing areas in October and early November.
“What’s good is that if there will be no more typhoons in vegetable-producing areas in Northern, Central, and Southern Luzon, vegetable production will continue to recover. The volume will increase anew, and it will go back to the normal price levels,” said Agriculture Secretary Arnel de Mesa.
He added that based on the agency’s November 27 monitoring, prices of carrots slightly dropped to P140 per kilogram to P200 per kilogram from the range of P140 per kilogram to P240per kilogram in November 22; lettuce Romaine, now ranging from P150 to P400 per kilogram from P190/kg to P400per kilogram; green ice lettuce with peak price set at P390 per kilogram slightly lower than the P400 per kilogram level. Prices of Baguio beans, pechay Baguio, cauliflower, and celery, however, remain elevated.
Slight price decreases have been also monitored by the DA in select lowland vegetables including eggplant, which price now ranges from P140 per kilogram to P200per kilogram, lower than the P150per kilogram to P230 per kilogram in November 22; tomato with the lowest price now pegged at P120 per kilogram from P150per kilogram; and bitter gourd or ampalaya, with peak price set to P200 per kilogram from P210 per kilogram.
For its part, the DTI said that prices of basic necessities will remain steady, with prices of most Noche Buena items remaining unchanged until the end of 2024.
“First and foremost, for the prices for basic necessities, no price increase until the end of the year. And then for the Noche Buena, more than 50 percent, the price will remain the same as last year. And ‘yung mga iba, they just increased but less than five percent,” Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina Aldeguer-Roque said.
She added that minor price hikes on certain commodities are already being implemented, particularly for imported goods, as increases are necessary to account for rising costs.
The DTI said that updated prices of Noche Buena package items can be found on the agency’s social media platforms to serve as a guide to the public.