Mandaue market vendors close stalls due to chicken shortage

CEBU, Philippines – At least 15 market vendors have temporarily closed their stalls due to a chicken supply shortage, Mandaue City Public Market Administrator Edgar Seno told Rappler on Friday, June 10.

“More or less, we have 15 stalls temporarily closed because of the shortage in [chicken] supply,” he said in a mix of English and Cebuano.

Seno said that this is mostly caused by an ongoing ban on poultry and poultry-related commodities in the country.

What started this?

In late February, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Bulacan, and Pampanga.

In March, a few more cases popped up in Laguna and Camarines Sur and on May 11, the DA issued Memorandum Circular No. 16 Series of 2022, limiting the movement of live poultry, non-poultry, poultry related products in the country.

Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia eventually ordered a ban on the entry of the same products from Luzon and Mindanao into the province on May 24.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes then followed with his own EO on May 31.

How are market vendors coping?

Poultry vendor Mirasol Quinaging said that her fellow vendors have resorted to buying chicken from supermarkets to make up for the low supply.

“Makapalit mi og manok nga tag-P205 sa [Colonnade Supermarket] unya ibaligya na lang namo og P220 (We buy whole chickens worth P205 at [Colonnade Supermarket] and then, we sell them for P220),” she said.

According to her, they would usually sell chicken at P170 but because local suppliers couldn’t meet the demand, they had to increase their prices to P230.

“Sa usa ka buwan kay 80 pieces pa among mabaligya pero karon kay 50 pieces na lang (In one month, we would sell 80 pieces but now, we can only sell 50 pieces),” Quinaging said.

As of posting time, there are vendors who are still paying their rental fees at the public market despite temporarily closing their stalls.

According to Seno, they are willing to talk to the local market vendors association to assist them should the need arise. 

“If this drags on for longer than it should, we might have to request the market authority for a waiver for rental payments to help the vendors,” Seno said. – Rappler.com