MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Agriculture is scrambling to secure Metro Manila's vegetable supply from Visayas and Mindanao as roadblocks caused by typhoons prevented the delivery of crops from Central and Northern Luzon.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap told reporters in a briefing that upland vegetables from Benguet, Cordillera, and Mountain Province could not be delivered because landslides and floods had made major roads impassable. Lowland vegetable producers in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Cavite were also hit.

Together, these areas make up about 70 percent of vegetable supplies for Metro Manila.

As a result of delivery problems, prices of vegetables are expected to triple.

Trying to control the damage to Metro Manila's supply, the DA has contracted 45 metric tons (MT) of vegetable deliveries from Visayas and Mindanao.

"Prices are good in Metro Manila so suppliers outside are encouraged to deliver here," Yap said.

DA-accredited suppliers in Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon, which comprised the the North Mindanao Vegetable Association, would be delivering 10 metric tons (MT) of vegetables within two days, Yap said.

Davao City and Davao del Sur is shipping 10 metric tons, General Santos and South Cotabato five metric tons, Cebu five metric tons, and Quezon 15 metric tons, according to Yap.

Besides the 45-metric-ton delivery within this week, Nueva Vizcaya has also committed an additional 30 metric tons every day.

However, shipments from Visayas and Mindanao might cost P20 to P22 more per shipment, so there would still be some price hikes, Yap said.

"We know that this is not a normal situation, there really is difficulty in getting the deliveries so whoever has the supply can command good prices, although it should not be unreasonably high," Yap said.

He also said that the DA "is not ready to recommend a price ceiling."

Despite the lack of supply due to hampered logistics, Yap said the government has not decided to import vegetables.

"We have not implemented anything on importation because we can still pull stocks from other (local) sources," Yap said.

He said normal deliveries could resume in one to two weeks.

In the meantime, consumers may cope and prevent vegetable prices from skyrocketing by simply consuming what has been available in markets, Yap said.

"Leafy vegetables are especially susceptible to rains, but squash, bottle gourd (upo), chayote, eggplant, and tomatoes are still available from Southern Tagalog. Let us patronize what is available," Yap said.

Besides disrupting deliveries, typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng damaged P352 million worth of high value crops, mostly vegetables, all over Luzon and in the Bicol region.

The typhoons resulted in total agricultural damage of about P12 billion.