Philippine Statistics Authority data shows prices for six of seven monitored agricultural commodities rose in the first five days of September compared to August, led by cabbage and carabao mango.
Regular milled rice averaged P49.96 per kilogram in the first phase of September, marking a small month-to-month increase from August but a 24 percent rise year-on-year from P40.31 in 2025.
The PSA biweekly price situationer covers national average retail prices from selected stores and outlets, with provincial data specifically collected from capital locations during the first five days of the month.
PRICES of most of the selected agricultural commodities monitored by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) increased in the first five days of September, led by cabbage and carabao mango, while regular milled rice moved closer to P50 per kilogram.
The PSA’s latest price situationer of selected agricultural commodities, released Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, covers the first phase of September, or Sept. 1 to 5. The report presents national average retail prices and does not provide a breakdown of prices in Central Visayas.
Six of seven commodities rose from August
Six of the seven commodities covered in the release were more expensive than in the first phase of August.
Cabbage recorded the largest increase. Its average retail price reached P125.86 per kilogram from P91.63 in Aug. 1-5, a jump of about 37.3 percent. It was also higher than the P100.11 recorded in the second phase of August.
Carabao mango posted the second-largest increase, with its average price rising to P182.96 per kilogram from P156.24 in the first phase of August, or about 17.1 percent. Its price in the second phase of August was P164.32 per kilogram.
As for galunggong (budburon in Cebuano), averaged P248.53 per kilogram in September’s first phase, up from P241.46 in the first phase of August and P246.13 in the second phase.
Native garlic reached P173.36 per kilogram, compared with P167.95 in the first phase of August and P169.14 in the second phase.
The average price of a chicken egg rose to P9.26 per piece, from P9.15 in the first phase of August and P9.16 in the second phase.
Regular milled rice increased to P49.96 per kilogram, from P49.64 in the first phase of August and P49.61 in the second phase.
Meanwhile, brown sugar was the only commodity to post a small decline, with its average price falling to P71.55 per kilogram from P71.73 in the first phase of August.
Rice tells a different story compared with last year
The month-to-month increase in rice was small, but the year-on-year change was much larger.
Regular milled rice averaged P49.96 per kilogram in the first five days of September, compared with P40.31 during the same period in 2025. That is an increase of about 24 percent, or P9.65 per kilogram.
Galunggong also posted a notable year-on-year increase, rising to P248.53 per kilogram from P231.11, or about 7.5 percent.
Carabao mango was up about 5.1 percent, while cabbage was about 2.2 percent higher than a year earlier.
The other three commodities moved in the opposite direction.
Native garlic averaged P173.36 per kilogram, down about 5.4 percent from P183.33 a year earlier. Brown sugar fell about 3.6 percent, while chicken eggs were about 1.4 percent cheaper than during the first phase of September 2025.
What does “first phase” mean
The price situationer is a biweekly report, not a monthly report of all consumer prices.
The PSA said the data are drawn from its Retail Price Survey of selected commodities used in generating the Consumer Price Index. Outside the National Capital Region, price data are collected during the first five days of each month for the first phase and from the 15th to 17th for the second phase.
The survey covers stores and outlets where commonly purchased goods are sold. For the price situationer, the PSA publishes average prices for selected food items. The average is calculated by adding the reported prices for a commodity and dividing the total by the number of reported prices. For provinces, only prices collected in the provincial capital are included; for selected cities, all collected prices are included.
This means a PSA average is not necessarily the price a consumer will find at every wet market, supermarket or neighborhood store.
Why the figures matter
The September data show two different price patterns.
Some commodities experienced sharp movements within weeks, particularly cabbage and carabao mango. Rice, on the other hand, changed little from August but remained substantially more expensive than a year earlier.
That distinction is important when reading food-price reports. A commodity can be relatively stable from one survey round to the next while still carrying a much higher price than it did a year ago.
The PSA figures also cover only the commodities included in this particular release. They do not represent the price movement of every food item sold in the country. / SUNSTAR CEBU