Sen. Cynthia A. Villar renewed her call against agricultural smuggling to protect the country's local hog producers, pushing for Congress to finish the bicameral conference on the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Bill.

Villar made the statement as she recently attended the National Federation of Hog Farmers National Pig Day Celebration in Quezon City over the weekend.

There, she expressed optimism that hog producers' link and network with institutional markets such as restaurants and hotels will lessen their dependence on imported pork. Recognizing the Filipinos' love for pork, Villar said local hog producers must provide consumers with good quality pork.

"The love for pork of our kababayans will remain so we need to find a good source of juicy, tender pork with the ideal meat-to-fat ratio at affordable price," Villar in her speech during the event.

The NatFed also set a Guinness Record for the most number of pork dishes on display and to be served.

Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture related that Filipinos consumed 15 kilograms of pork, 11.6 kilograms of chicken, and 3 kilograms of beef a year.

"We Pinoys love to eat meat particularly pork meat. We offer a variety of pork dishes. Some of the favorite pork dishes are - Lechon, Barbecue, Adobo, PocheroSinigang na Baboy, Tokwa at. Baboy, Dinuguan, Binagoongan,Kadios Baboy Langka or KBL, Pork SisigBagnet, Pork Bistek and Crispy Pata, among others."

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, as of September 2023, the top five regions with the highest volume of hog production at live weight are Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Northern Mindanao, Central Visayas, Davao Region, and Zamboanga Peninsula.

"And about 67.5 percent of the country’s swine population came from small hold farms, while the remaining 29.2 percent and 3.3 percent were from commercial and semi-commercial farms, respectively," added the senator.

However, Villar lamented that the Philippines is not spared the challenges facing the hog industry like the African Swine Flu (ASF).

The hog sector has registered P200 billion in losses since ASF cases were recorded in 2019.

The Bureau of Animal Industry in November 2023 said that only 11 provinces out of the 82 remain ASF-free. They are Batanes, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Bohol, Siquijor, Biliran, Bukidnon, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

While no ASF vaccine has been approved, Villar said: "We can only rely on our good animal husbandry practices in preventing disease and disease-causing agents to spread for our hog farmers to earn, attain their maximum farm yield, protect the consumer food supply by making available clean and safe hogs for slaughter."

Villar also called for the swift passage of the Livestock Poultry and Dairy Bill and the Corn Bill to finance the strengthening of the industries from tariffs collected on imported animal products and feeds.