MANILA – Pork producers on Wednesday welcomed a lawmaker’s call for President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a state of emergency as African swine fever (ASF) continues to hound the local hog industry.
The price cap for pork is not being followed and hog producers have yet to receive transport subsidy from the Department of Agriculture, according to the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines (ProPork).
The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday extended the implementation of price cap for pork and chicken until April 8 as the government continues to ease inflation.
“Kaya po nagkakasupply (sa Metro Manila) dahil ‘yung price cap ay hindi naman po sinusunod at hindi po pwedeng sundin dahil titigil po ang retailer, ang biyahero. Ang magbababoy po sa iba magbebenta,” ProPork vice president for Luzon Nicanor Briones told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.
Government should instead lift the price cap, said Chester Tan, president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers.
“Nakita po natin for the past few weeks ‘yung paglagay nila ng price cap hindi po ito nagwork out. I don’t know why they are still insisting continue with this price cap instead of lifting it para hindi mahirapan at mayroong produkto na makarating dito sa Maynila,” he said.
The agency had also said it would subsidize the transportation of hogs from other regions to Metro Manila as supply dwindles due to ASF.
Hog raisers, however, have yet to receive the subsidy as the agency seeks too many requirements, said Briones.
“Nako wala. ‘Yung lahat ng kanilang ipinangako hindi naman nangyayari,” he said.
“Lahat po ng requirement sinasubmit naman po ng ating mga kasama, ang problema lang po naglalabas sila from time-to-time ng additional requirements,” Tan added.(ABS-CBN News)
