By Mary Grace Padin
The five-day pork holiday being planned by hog raisers will not eliminate the problems hounding the sector, a senior official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday.
Agriculture Undersecretary for Livestock Jose C. Reaño said the move could even backfire on some people who depend on the hog sector for their livelihood, such as vendors in wet markets.
“I hope the group pushing for a pork holiday would carefully examine their position. While it is their right to voice their grievances, staging a pork holiday is not the solution to their woes,” Reaño said in the vernacular.
The DA official made the statement in reaction to the pronouncement of the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) that it is planning to hold a five-day pork holiday—a nationwide synchronized action that would disrupt pork supply in the country.
Sinag Executive Director Jayson Cainglet said smuggling has caused the farm-gate price of pork to decline by nearly 20 percent in recent months, causing hog raisers to incur losses.
“Since December the farm-gate price of pork for backyard raisers has gone down to P80 to P85 per kilogram, from P95 to P105 per kilogram. This is barely above the cost of production,” Cainglet said.
He said even commercial farms have started to feel the negative impact of the illicit trade of pork meat.
Cainglet said the group hopes that the pork holiday would make the government focus on the country’s smuggling problem.
“There will be less pork in the market during the five-day pork holiday. What more if it’s year round? That’s what will happen if smuggling continues to kill the local industry,” he said.
Sinag added that it is now consulting backyard and commercial farms in the country to finalize the date of the five-day pork holiday.
Of the P200 billion worth of smuggled agricultural products since 2010, the group earlier said P40 billion consisted of pork.
Reaño, for his part, urged Sinag to analyze the “real cause” of lower pork prices.
“Of the total pork inventory, only 10 percent are imported, while 90 percent are from local producers. I urge them to trace the origin of pork being sold in wet markets,” he said.
He added that the Bureau of Customs has been able to confiscate 4,000 metric tons of pork illegally shipped into the country last year.
Reaño said the decline in the farm-gate price of pork could be due to the higher hog production in recent months.
Data from Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the country’s hog output in 2015 grew by 4.33 percent to 2.12 million metric tons (MMT), from 2.03 MMT in the previous year.
To increase the demand for locally produced hogs, Reaño said raisers should consider meeting the requirements of the local processing industry.
“Meat processors import 40,000 MT of pork for industrial use. There’s a potential for the local producers to replace this volume,” he said.