Marcos orders DA to determine why there’s egg price increase

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. wants to determine why the prices of eggs have increased in the previous weeks.

During a meeting on Tuesday, Marcos tasked Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban to meet with egg producers and traders to know the reason behind the increase despite enough supply in the market.

Marcos, who sits as Agriculture chief, said the government "looks to implement interventions to increase agricultural productivity and ensure the availability of nutritious food at affordable prices."

"We determined that the increase in the price of eggs is not commensurate to the increase in production cost," Marcos said.

"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," the President pointed out.

Citing the DA's price watch, the Presidential Communications Office said as of January 13, medium-sized eggs is priced at P9 each, compared to P6.90 in December 2022.

The DA said eggs should just retail between P7 to P7.50 per piece given its farm gate prices. Reports show that eggs are being sold as high as P9.60 per piece.

The DA earlier reconvened the Price and Volume Watch Committee and Advisory Groups for Livestock and Poultry to closely watch the prices of eggs across the country.

According to the Philippine Egg Board Association (PEBA), there has been a decrease in egg production in the country due to higher operating expenses for breeders as a result of the increase in hatchling and chicken pellet prices.

Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista said the DA would investigate "layers of traders" if this is the reason behind the increase in egg prices. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News