Gov't to hold food security summit amid pork, chicken supply woes

President Rodrigo Duterte has called for a food security summit to address issues currently hounding the food industry, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Wednesday.

Among the issues the summit seeks to address are the high prices of pork, the drop in farmgate prices of palay, and the onslaught of the African swine fever (ASF).

“The Executive branch is calling for a Food Security Summit, with the Department of Agriculture (DA) as lead agency, to continue to boost and develop the agri-fishery sector through the cooperation, coordination and collaboration of the local government units (LGUs) and the private sector’s industry players and stakeholders,” Roque said.

Roque issued the statement a day after Pork Producers’ Federation of the Philippines (ProPork) called on the government to conduct a nationwide dialogue to address the lack of pork and chicken supply that resulted in unabated increase of pork and chicken prices.

The lack of pork and chicken supply was exacerbated when vendors refused to sell their goods to avoid further losses as soon as the price ceiling imposed by the President took effect on February 8.

Roque said that the Food Security Summit also  seeks to present some models for agribusiness value-chain approach, LGU-led agri-fishery extension system, as well as strengthening of the role and capacities of local price coordinating councils and regional development councils.

“The summit aims to develop a National Food Security Plan to achieve our vision of a food-secure and resilient Philippines with prosperous farmers and fisherfolks, and where consumers have continuous flow of food and producers stay productive amid unhampered movement of agricultural commodities, accessibility and price stability,” he added.

In response to vendors who went on pork holiday, the Department of Agriculture has already set the wholesale price of pork at P235 per kilo to complement President Duterte’s Executive Order 124, which set a price ceiling of P270 per kilo for kasim and pigue, P300 for liempo and P160 for dressed chicken sold in Metro Manila for 60 days.

The DA also implemented a transportation subsidy for for pork supply coming from Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon at P21 per kilo, P15 per kilo and P10 per kilo, respectively. —KBK, GMA News