THE retail price of rice declined year on year in mid-December, while meat and galunggong (round scad) prices increased, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
During the Dec. 15-17 period, which the PSA calls the second phase of December, the national average retail price of regular milled rice declined 14.05% year on year to P42.10. During the first phase (Dec. 1-5), the average had been P41.38. A month earlier, rice averaged P40.56.
The highest average retail price of regular milled rice in the second phase was recorded in the Davao Region at P46.26 per kilo, down 6.58% from the same period last year.
The lowest retail price of well-milled rice was reported in the Cagayan Valley at P34.16 per kilo, down 20.45% from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the retail price of bone-in fresh pork averaged P314.72 per kilo in the second phase of December, up 4.13% from a year earlier. The national average compares with the P314.41 recorded in the first phase of December and P316.05 a month earlier.
The retail price of dressed chicken averaged P212.40 per kilo in the second phase of December, up 2.21% from a year earlier. The average retail price for the period also higher than the P210.67 recorded during the first phase of December and P208.42 a month earlier.
Galunggong prices rose 13.45% year on year to P249.11 per kilo in the second phase of December. The average price of the staple fish rose from P244.90 in the first phase of December and increased from P247.86 a month earlier. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel