Two thousand hogs have arrived in Manila and are up for distribution to different markets to address the shortage of the supply of pork in the National Capital Region (NCR), Malacañang said Wednesday.

In an announcement over State-run PTV-4, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the supply of the hogs came from South Cotabato is part of the government's efforts in response to the shortage caused by the African swine fever (ASF).

He said the hogs were brought to Vitas in Tondo before they are distributed to different markets in the metropolis.

"Kabagahi po ito ng ating mga hakbang na ginagawa para maibsan nga po ang kakulangan ng baboy sa Metro Manila nang sa gayon ay bumaba po ang presyo ng baboy-- at least umabot doon sa price cap na sinet po ng ating gobyerno (This is part of the steps we are taking to ease the shortage of the supply of pork in Metro Manila so we can bring down the prices-- or at least bring it near the price cap set by the government)," Roque said.

President Duterte's Executive Order No. 124 has set the price ceiling for pork cuts of “kasim” and “pigue” at P270 per kilo, while that for “liempo” was P300. The EO was issued earlier this month due to consumer complaints of rising prices of pork and chicken.

According to Roque, the government will continue importing ports from areas in the Philippines with no cases of ASF to ease the pork shortage.

"Patuloy naman po ang pag-a-angkat natin ng baboy sa mga lugar na walang ASF dito sa Luzon at pati na rin po sa mga lugar dyan sa Visayas at sa Mindanao (We will continue to import hogs from areas Luzon with no transmission of ASF and from places in Visayas and Mindanao)," he said. 

"Kung hindi pa nga po ito sapat ay handa naman tayo mag-angkat ng baboy galing sa abroad (if this is still not enough, we are ready to import from other countries)," he added.

Meanwhile, the Palace official said while the situation will not last long, he said that the government has to take measures because ASF really took a toll on the supply of pork.

"Sa tingin ko naman, ito naman po'y panandalian lamang (I don't think this will last long)," he said.

"Ang katotohanan po eh nasalanta talaga, naubos ang supply ng baboy lalung-lalo na sa Luzon dahil nga po sa ASF (The truth is we really ran out of pork supply, especially in Luzon, because of ASF)," he added.

Early this month, Roque said the Philippines has a shortfall of 400,000 metric tons of pork.