Lower farm product prices sought

Senatorial aspirant Erwin Tulfo pledged Monday to push for a review of laws and government regulations to address the soaring costs of food and farm products in the Philippines.

Speaking at Quezon City First District Representative Juan Carlos Atayde’s first State of the District Address (SODA), Tulfo, who is running under the Lakas-CMD party in the 2025 midterm elections, highlighted the practice of traders or middlemen buying agricultural produce at very low farmgate prices and selling them at significantly higher prices in the market.

"As a result of this practice, our farmers, hog raisers and poultry growers earn less. It is the traders who earn much," Tulfo said. "There is a problem with food, and everybody is experiencing that high cost of living. We need to do something about it. Perhaps the Senate and Congress need to revisit these laws."

Tulfo suggested that implementing and enforcing suggested retail prices (SRPs) could help control the prices of food and other essential commodities.

"If necessary, let's implement a Suggested Retail Price to control the price of food," said Tulfo, adding the importance of the agriculture sector, which accounted for 8.9 percent of the country's total gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022 and employed 24 percent of the Filipino workforce.

Tulfo also stressed that farmers, including those in farming, fisheries, livestock, and forestry, "need every help they can get, especially in the face of a growing population."

He congratulated Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and Atayde for the city's progress and their support for constituents and urged the public to pray for the country's unity and progress, acknowledging the challenges the nation is facing.

"Our country is going through some problems. You all know what these are," Tulfo said. "My only request for now is to pray for our leaders, past and present, that they be given strength to overcome the challenges they are facing now, and let us pray for our country to be united once again."

He also vowed to address the situation of barangay (village) officials, advocating for standardized salaries sourced from the annual budget of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), rather than mere honorariums.

"We have to give them compensation. Not just honorarium, but a standardized salary that should come from the funds of the Department of Interior and Local Government, just like solo parents," Tulfo explained. He noted that local government units (LGUs) often cannot afford to provide monthly salaries to barangay captains, councilors, village watchmen, and health workers, who also have families to support.