FLOUR millers have decided to pitch in to help the poor cope with the increase in food prices by launching a program to sell affordable bread in the bagsakan centers of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Under the “Mabuhay Tinapay” program, seven pieces of pan de sal weighing 22 to 25 grams will be sold at P10, plus a P1 delivery cost, starting April 25.

In effect, each pan de sal will cost around P1.50 with this pricing scheme. Bagsakan centers will also sell loaf bread at around P36 to P37 each.

“Breads will be baked Friday morning and will be delivered to the bagsakan outlets of the DA in the afternoon. The bread products will be available during weekends only,” said Pafmil executive director Ric Pinca.

Initially, the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (Pafmil) and the Chamber of Flour Millers (Chamflour) will deliver 3,000 bags of flour weekly to bakers they have contracted.

Pafmil is composed of RFM Corp., Liberty Flour Mills, Wellington Flour Mills, Philippine Flour Mills, General Milling Corp., Universal Milling Corp. and Philmico Food Corp., while Chamflour is composed of San Miguel Corp., Philippine Foremost Milling Corp., Delta Milling Corp. and Morning Star Milling Corp.

Flour millers conceptualized the program as part of efforts to help the “poorest sector,” which is increasingly affected by the spike in food prices such as bread products in recent months.

For one, the cost of pan de sal, considered a staple food for Filipinos during breakfast, have gone up by 50 centavos, mainly due to the increase in the cost of flour.

Earlier, Pafmil said that increases in the price of flour products within the year may not be avoided due to the increase in the price of wheat, the raw material used in making flour.

Pinca said the price of wheat jumped by 170 percent to $601 per metric ton (MT) this year, from $222 per MT last year.

The Philippines imports its wheat requirements from various sources, including the United States, Australia and Canada. Pinca said the Philippines imports 2 million MT (MMT) of wheat annually, of which 1.5 MMT is used for flour manufacturing, while the balance is used in making hog feeds.

He noted that 60 percent of wheat imports are used in manufacturing hard flour, while 40 percent is used in making soft flour. Hard flour is used in making bread products, while soft flour is used for making cakes, pastries and noodles.

FLOUR millers have decided to pitch in to help the poor cope with the increase in food prices by launching a program to sell affordable bread in the bagsakan centers of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) has revealed additional fiscal measures being studied by the government to help Filipinos cope with soaring commodity prices.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is eyeing to expand the government’s subsidies to farmers to encourage them to use hybrid-rice seeds to boost palay yields, and eventually stabilize the retail prices of rice in the long term.

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is cool to the proposal creating a separate Office of the Philippine Trade Representative (OPTR) and just called for the strengthening of its international trade-relations unit instead.

MANILA Water officials are insisting on getting a P195-million development cost refund for the frozen P2-billion Carmen bulk-water project, originally seen as a medium-term answer to the perennial water shortage problem in Metro Cebu.

IN 1970, a senator from the United States organized the first Earth Day. His vision was a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment.