Regional government leaders are joining forces to combat alleged food cartels and supply monopolies in Central Visayas, proposing a multi-province task force to track and lower the cost of essential goods.

Roy Buenafe, the Department of Labor and Employment regional director for Central Visayas, proposed creating a technical working group to investigate regional supply chains and identify where prices are being artificially inflated.

"The two provinces, Cebu and Bohol, should now create a technical working group to study especially on fish and other seafood products," Buenafe said.

Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro backed the proposal, pointing to the province's heavy reliance on external agricultural production.

"Seventy percent of the food supply in Cebu comes from outside," Baricuatro said. "We are not food secure here in the province."

The proposed working group will map the shipping and transport routes of fish, seafood, and agricultural goods entering Cebu and Bohol. The initiative aims to pinpoint transportation bottlenecks and identify middlemen who may be manipulating market prices.

"We want to know and source from direct producers," Buenafe said, noting that bypassing intermediary traders for meat and seafood would lower consumer costs.

Buenafe added that high transportation costs, unpredictable supply levels and unfair market manipulation are squeezing both local businesses and workers.

By identifying the entities controlling food distribution from farm to market shelves, regional officials hope to dismantle monopolies, stabilize the local supply and reduce the daily cost of living for families in the region.