Opinion-Editorial NEWS

Lost in the transition from Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to MECQ in the NCR-Plus bubble were twin moves of the national government to address the effects of the African swine fever (ASF) that has greatly affected the supply of pork, a staple item in the Filipino family’s daily menu.

Consumers are urged to keep on patronizing local pork amid the issuance of Executive Order (EO) 128, which will bring down the tariff on pork imports and will pave the way for the entry of more imported pork into the Philippines. 

The persistence of African Swine Fever (ASF) did not only affect the Philippines’ hog production. Corn production, too, is now reeling from the impact of the dreaded animal virus.

If the prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic is not yet bad enough, there is also now a Senate proposal to put the entire country under a state of emergency due to an African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak, which has already cost about P50 billion in losses to the swine industry and pushed pork market prices higher. None of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) measures seem to be working.

Food and agriculture multinational firm Cargill said everyone’s priority should be strict biosecurity and feed hygiene in fighting the much dreaded African Swine Fever (ASF), which already resulted in billions of losses in the Philippines’ hog industry.

Filipinos can expect higher meat prices as the cost of animal feed ingredients, primarily corn and soybean, has been on an uptrend worldwide.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking into urban aquaculture as alternative livelihood for backyard hog raisers who are badly affected by the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF).

Amid high pork and chicken prices, the Philippine government must now find a way to boost the production of alternative protein sources such as rabbit meat and plant-based food. Based on a study published by the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), the high pork prices now, while painful and unfavorable to consumers, is an opportunity for the country to start exploring alternative protein sources.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has been formally asked by its legally mandated arm for stakeholders’ participation, Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), to withdraw its petition to lower import tariff rates on pork.

The government-funded transport subsidy for hog shipment is now available, but hog raisers must first follow a lengthy process.

Amid the persistent African Swine Fever (ASF) and shortage in hogs supply in the country, San Miguel Corporation (SMC), through its food unit San Miguel Foods (SMF), announced it is rationalizing its Monterey business by transferring its nationwide hog inventory to local raisers.

Despite the tightness in supply, the Philippine government is targeting to bring down the farm-gate price of pork in the country to P165 to P170 per kilogram (/kg), which is nearly double the commodity’s current retail cost of around P350/kg recently recorded at select markets in Metro Manila.

The Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) is asking President Rodrigo Duterte to authorize limited importation of up to 50,000 metric tons (MT) only at zero tariff at zero.

The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) National Tobacco Administration (NTA), which currently operates a state-owned meat processing facility in Ilocos Sur, will set aside P10 million to augment the facility’s operations.

Pampanga-based food and meat processor Mekeni Food Corporation has remained optimistic about its operations for 2021 despite the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s top official said.  

The Philippine government is planning to triple the minimum access volume (MAV) allocation for pork in a bid to address the shortfall in the commodity, which is caused by the highly fatal animal disease that is the African Swine Fever (ASF).

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has designed a credit facility that specifically targets to provide funding to commercial hog raisers who were affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF).  

The fatal animal disease African Swine Fever (ASF) that reached the Philippines’ backyard farms in August last year is now on its third wave, so far resulted in the culling of more than 400,000 pigs across the country.