Rappler Talk: Spiraling food prices

Bookmark this page and watch the interview on Thursday, January 19, at 4 pm

MANILA, Philippines – Inflation soaring to 14-year highs has strained household budgets of Filipinos, and experts have warned prices may stay elevated in 2023.

A kilo of onions in the Philippines is currently more expensive than a kilo of pork, beef, or chicken. There’s also “egg-flation,” as medium-sized eggs are now sold at P10 apiece.

So far, a Senate probe has highlighted cracks in the agriculture sector that have been there for years. Senators are now calling on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to appoint an agriculture secretary, instead of concurrently heading the Department of Agriculture.

In this Rappler Talk episode, Roehlano Briones, senior research fellow of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, breaks down the issues of importation, local production, and the needed infrastructure to bring prices down while giving farmers fair pay. – Rappler.com