As pork products flood local market, lower prices seen

In a radio interview on dzBB during the weekend, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Constante Palabrica said piggeries were selling their pigs before these animals could contract the viral disease.

“Initially, bababa ang presyo dahil nga inilalabas ng mga piggery yung kanilang baboy sa takot dito sa NMIS (Initially, the retail price will drop because the piggeries are releasing their pigs out of fear of the National Meat Inspection Service),” he said.

Palabrica said the NMIS, a regulatory agency under the Department of Agriculture (DA) responsible for inspecting locally produced and imported meat, was closely monitoring pork products sold at wet markets to ensure they were safe from ASF.

Current pricing

As of Friday, pork ham (kasim) was selling at the retail market for P290 to P360 per kilogram, higher than P260 to P330 per kg in the same period a year ago, based on the DA’s price monitoring.

Pork liempo was priced at P305 to P420 per kg, also higher than last year’s retail price of P290 to P390 per kg.

Palabrica assured the public that the animal disease would not affect local supply as certain provinces were repopulating their hogs, saying the government had earmarked P2 billion for ongoing supply-boosting efforts.

He also said the government was distributing breeders and piglets to ensure continuous hog supply across the nation.

There are active ASF cases in 11 regions and 22 provinces as of Aug. 8, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry’s tally.

Since the country recorded the first outbreak in 2019, the ASF has affected 74 out of 82 provinces nationwide.

Palabrica said the animal disease had wiped out around 50 percent of the hog population since the 2019 outbreak.

Available stock

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the country’s total swine inventory hit 9.86 million heads as of September last year, down by 2.1 percent from last year.

According to the World Organization for Animal Health, ASF is a highly contagious viral disease that causes a mortality rate of 100 percent.

Although humans are not at risk, ASF has devastating effects on pig populations and the farming economy.

The DA has lined up various interventions to ensure the safety of the country’s swine industry. For instance, it has purchased 10,000 vaccine doses via emergency procurement, established various checkpoints across Luzon and raised indemnity paid to affected hog raisers (now ranging from P4,000 to P12,000 per condemned pig).