By Patricia Francia Lachica

Not 5, not 8 pesos, but Filipino staple breakfast bread pandesal should be P10 per piece.

Director of Asosasyon ng Panaderong Pilipino, Princess Lunar on Sunday sought a pandesal cost increase since community bakeries had difficulty sustaining their operations amid price hikes of raw materials. 

“Napaka-sakit po sa amin kung gaano po naging doble ang presyo ng raw materials pero po simula pa lang noon, ang presyo pa rin ng pandesal ay P2.00 pa rin. Ni hindi manlang kumalahati sa presyo ng mga dinoble ng raw materials,” Director Princess Lunar stressed. 

(It is distressing how the price of raw materials has doubled, but the cost of pandesal is still P2.00. It did not even reach half the price of the raw materials we are spending,")

She added that several community bakeries stopped their operation due to price hikes and cannot keep pace with the economic situation in the Philippines. 

“Yan na po kasi ang naisip na paraan ng mga community bakery para kahit papaano ay maka-ahon po kami at makapagpatuloy ng negosyo. Pero ito pong walang humpay na pagtaas ng mga presyo ng raw materials ay hindi na rin po namin kinakaya,” added Lunar. 

("That is the idea the community bakeries come up with, so we can somehow continue the business. But we can no longer afford the increases in the prices of the raw materials,")

The director further showed her distress over the decreasing quality of 'pandesal' and affirmed the narrative that it is already a "dying pandesal industry" since 20 percent of the community bakeries closed during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to peak at 50 percent. 

“Sana po ay masuportahan din po kami mismo ng gobyerno sa pagpapataas at maging balanse ang presyo ng tinapay. Sabi nga po ni Sir Chito [Spokesperson of Philippine Federation of Bakers Association Inc.], ang presyo po dapat ng pandesal ay hindi lang dapat P2, P2.50, P3, o P4. Dapat ito ay P7, P8, dahil ito ay handcrafted,” emphasized Lunar. 

("We hope that the government can help us in the call of a price increase and balance the products' cost. According to Sir Chito, the cost of pandesal should not stay around P2, P2.50, P3, or P4. It should be P7, or P8 since it is handcrafted,")

The director proclaimed that the price of pandesal should be around P8 to P10. Lunar, however, told in the public forum since the Filipinos are also affected by the price hikes, the community bakeries aspire to increase their pandesal worth by P4 only. 

According to Ric Pinca, head of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers, flour prices are expected to increase as wheat costs in the world market continue to be affected by the Ukraine war.