A member of the House of Representatives on Thursday, August 12, chided the Department of Agriculture for supposedly favoring imported pork products sold in supermarkets over local produce.

Gabriela Women's Party Representative Arlene Brosas maintained that local pork prices remain high even as the government already allowed more imports into Philippines in a bid to stabilize supply and costs.

"Mataas pa rin ang presyo ng baboy at iba pang bilihin (Prices of pork and other commodities are still high)," Brosas said in the press briefing of the lower chamber's Makabayan bloc, citing earlier statements from DA officials on the prices of frozen pork products.

She said the most of the imported products are being sold in supermarkets, whose customers are mostly well-off.

"Kalakhan ng mga konsyumer ngayon ay namimili sa wet markets at mataas pa rin ang presyo ng karne rito (Majority of consumers still buy in wet markets where meat is still expensive)," Brosas said.

"Lumalabas na parang naging promodizer na lang ng imported na baboy ang Department of Agriculture dahil imbis na gawan ng paraan para hindi malugi ang mga manininda at maliliit na negosyo, mas hinihikayat pa nito ang importasyon ng mga agrikultural na produkto at pagbaba ng taripa ng mga ito (It appears that DA serves as a promodizer of imported pork, because instead of looking for ways to help vendors and small businesses, it even encourages the importation of agricultural products and lowering of tariffs)," she claimed.

During a House hearing on Tuesday, August 10, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said prices of frozen pork kasim and ham are currently being sold at P220 per kilogram, while frozen pork belly or liempo is sold at P250/kg.

Fresh pork in wet markets, on the other hand, costs at least P320/kg for pork kasim and about P360/kg.

The DA reported that 48 percent of wet markets in the country have also started selling frozen pork.

Dar said that the arrival of more imported pork in the coming months will "slowly" bring down the prices of local pork. He also maintained that the importation is only a temporary measure to curb the surge in prices.

Brosas appealed to the DA to support the local hog industry as it is still coping from the impacts of the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.

"Walang agricultural development kung patuloy na naghihirap ang ating mga magsasaka, manggagawang-bukid, mangingisda, at iba pang kabilang sa sektor ng agrikultura (There will be no agricultural development is our farmers, farm workers, fishers and other sectors remain struggling)," she said.