The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to roll out a ₱1-billion swine repopulation program as part of its ongoing effort to restore the country’s hog population to pre-African Swine Fever (ASF) levels.
Agriculture Undersecretary for Livestock Dante Palabrica announced that Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel has approved this program. The plan is to distribute around 30,000 gilts—female pigs that have not produced piglets—to large farms across the country.
In a statement, the DA said these farms will “repay the government by providing reared pigs for distribution to backyard farmers.”
The program is among the agency’s longer-term solutions to rebuild the national hog inventory to 14 million heads or the swine population before the ASF’s first outbreak in 2019.
The country’s hog inventory currently stands at around eight million.
Laurel earlier challenged the swine industry to produce an additional two million hogs starting next year to return to the pre-ASF population by 2028.
He said this should be the “minimum” production for hog raisers, stressing the rising demand for pork as the country’s population grows.
The DA chief added that this would result in a significant reduction in pork imports, which have taken the slack in local production.
Data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed that the country’s meat imports last year grew by 20 percent from 1.204 million metric tons (MT) to 1.45 million MT.
Pork imports, which accounted for half of the total imports, increased by 24 percent to 733,729 MT from 591,888 MT in 2023.
Last month, Laurel ordered the creation of a roadmap that will guide the recovery of the swine industry.
This will hinge on the commercial rollout of an ASF vaccine this year and the proposed Animal Industry Development and Competitiveness Act embodied under House Bill (HB) No. 11355.
The bill seeks to implement the animal competitiveness enhancement fund (AnCEF), which will allocate around ₱4 billion for the swine industry to support its recovery and growth.
The House of Representatives approved the bill on third and final reading in February.
Based on BAI data, as of April 11, there were active ASF cases in eight provinces across 54 barangays.
MSRP enforcement
Despite low compliance, the DA and swine industry stakeholders have agreed to intensify enforcement of the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for pork.
Recent market inspections revealed that less than 10 percent of sellers adhered to the MSRP.
The MSRP is set at ₱300 per kilo for “sabit ulo” or freshly slaughtered carcass, ₱350 per kilo for pique (leg/ham) and kasim (shoulder), and ₱380 per kilo for liempo (pork belly).
According to the DA, industry players have pledged to “police its ranks and prevent profiteering at the expense of consumers.”
To further stabilize pork prices, the state-run Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) has started purchasing 500 pigs daily from large farms and delivering them directly to slaughterhouses.
“The move is intended to ensure consistent supply and reinforce compliance with the established MSRP,” the DA said.