DA to pay for transport cost of additional pork supplies to NCR

The Department of Agriculture (DA) will shoulder the expenses in shipping pork products to the National Capital Region (NCR) to augment supply and eventually reduce retail cost.

In an interview on Dobol B sa News TV on Saturday, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes said the DA secured a commitment from hog raisers in General Santos and South Cotabato to supply Metro Manila with 10,000 hogs a week or 30,000 to 40,000 hogs a month.

“Sa Metro Manila may kakulangan talaga. ‘Yun naman ay pupunuan ng mga hog raisers all over the country at sasagutin na namin ang transport support... para ‘yung farmgate [price] dito ma-maintain. Pagdating diyan sa Manila, meron pa ring kita sila,” Reyes said.

“Nasa P20 per kilo ang support na ibibigay ng DA na mashi-ship pa-Manila,” he said.

Last month, consumers saw meat prices, particularly pork, jack up as much as P400 per kilo in Metro Manila markets due to supply constraints as the African swine fever (ASF) decimated much of the hog population. 

To arrest rising prices, which the DA blamed on unscrupulous traders and wholesalers who took advantage of the ASF situation, President Rodrigo Duterte issued an executive order imposing a 60-day price cap on pork and chicken in the NCR. 

Under the EO, the price of kasim and pigue should not exceed P270 per kilo. The President also fixed the price ceiling for liempo and dressed chicken at P300 and P160, respectively.

“Mararamdaman natin starting next week, sana bumaba na. The idea is P270 hanggang P300 per kilo,” Reyes said.

The DA official called on local governments to synchronize its policies on pork shipments with the national government’s so as not to further increase the retail price of the commodity.

“Nakikiusap kami sa nakikinig na mayors, barangay captains na ‘wag na i-hamper ang movement... Kailangan ang free flow ng goods,” Reyes said.

Some pork retailers and traders on Wednesday said they might go on a “pork holiday” once the price ceiling for pork and chicken is imposed in Metro Manila.

Both Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles and Agriculture Secretary William Dar blamed unscrupulous businessmen taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ASF emergency, but assured the public those who manipulate pork prices could face charges for economic sabotage.

President Rodrigo Duterte has also formed a task group that will run after profiteers, hoarders, and smugglers of agricultural products.

However, the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines stressed that the price ceiling is not helpful for hog raisers. It said that no less than 150 hog raisers have stopped raising hogs while 100,000 employees were affected.

“Wala naman kasing profiteers. Walang hoarders. Hanap nang hanap ng dahilan si Secretary Dar sa kaniyang kapalpakan,” Nicanor Briones, Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines VP for Luzon, said.

Briones advised the president to hold dialogue with hog raisers and traders as well as to remove the price ceiling. —with Joahna Lei Casilao/KG, GMA News