Kwek-kwek price goes up with hike in cooking oil cost

Patrons of kwek-kwek will find themselves getting fewer pieces of the popular Pinoy street food as sellers have increased its price prompted by hike in cooking oil cost.

Vendor Anthony Damacio said that from P3 a piece, the boiled quail eggs coated in orange batter is now being sold at P3.50, according to Bernadette Reyes’ “24 Oras” report on Thursday.

“Medyo nagtaas lang kami nang konti sa paninda para mabawi naman yung puhunan at tinaas. Hindi lang naman po mantika tumaas, lahat po. Pati service ko po tumaas na rin ang krudo,” Damacio said.

(We only increased the price to recover from the expenses. It is not just the oil that has increased but also other products. The price of fuel has also increased.)

At Marikina Public Market, the price of 1 liter palm oil increased from P75 to P95, while the price of 1 liter of coconut oil increased from P90 to P105.

Some street vendors said they were also reusing the oil to reduce expenses.

“Nanghihinayang kami, inuulit namin yung mantika na nilagay sa kawali kasi mahal ang mantika. Isang beses lang,” street vendor Reynaldo Madiral said.

(We reuse the oil it's expensive, but we discard it after.)

Some vendors were selling repacked oil in small portions with a price of P5, which is more affordable for those with tight budget.

At the Pasig Mega Market, the price of palm oil per 1 liter increased from P80 to P87, while the price of 1 liter of coconut oil increased from P90 to P100.

According to a sub-dealer of oil, the oil price hike continues to increase due to the high price of copra.

“Una sabi nila dahil nga sa copra, tumataas yung presyo ng copra. Kaya tumataas yung coco oil, sumasabay yung palm oil,” oil sub-dealer John Ronald Flores said.

(They said the oil price increased because of copra, then the prices of coco oil and palm oil also increased.)

GMA News sought the reaction of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) on the issue.

The PCA earlier said the increasing price of copra used in the manufacturing of oil was also the reason the price of cooking oil has spiked.—Richa Noriega/LDF, GMA News