Twenty hog vans containing a total of 1,600 heads of swine were shipped from Iloilo Port to Metro Manila on February 15, 2021 with the Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas providing transport support to the local raisers as among the government’s efforts to allay the soaring prices of pork and by-products because of the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks.
“We are facilitating the transportation of live hogs to Metro Manila as instructed by Secretary Dar in a memorandum he signed on February 9, and also as a support to the Executive Order 124 of President Duterte on the mandated price ceiling in the National Capital Region,” said DA Regional Executive Director Remelyn Recoter.
With its expected arrival on February 16 via Oceanic Container Lines, the live hogs approximately valued at PHP24-million will be brought directly to slaughterhouses and will be sold in the different public markets to provide Metro Manila consumers with safe and affordable pork meat.
Recoter said that the hogs transported were from the backyard raisers in the four provinces in Panay Island with the highest volume coming from the Sibalom Integrated Livestock and Poultry Raisers Association (SILPRA) in Antique.
According to Recoter, SILPRA, a farmers’ group with more than 1,000 members, is a DA recipient of a Livestock Oksyon Market (LOM), and a recently turned over feed mill facility that is set to operate by April.
“The shipment is part of the “Whole of Nation” measures to revive the hog industry and reduce pork prices. This is part of the supply chain, mobilizing stocks from surplus areas aside from the transport support and price ceiling,” Recoter added.
As indicated in the memorandum, hog raisers and traders from Western Visayas can claim PHP15 per kilogram transport support for their hogs or “pork in a box” as long as they can present a shipping permit of hogs delivered to Metro Manila stating the number of heads and weight, and a receipt issued by the carrier to the shipper.
In addition to that, the shipper shall also present a certification issued by the slaughterhouse in Metro Manila in case of hogs, and a certificate from the cold storage and National Meat Inspection Service for ‘pork in a box’ or whole carcasses.
Aside from shouldering the logistic expenses in hog shipment, DA also prioritizes repopulation of hogs particularly in the green zones or ASF-free areas, implementation of Bantay ASF sa Barangay, financing and hog insurance, food diversification, raising of protein substitutes, and importation as the last resort. (Story by Sheila Mae H. Toreno/ Photos by Jerem V. De Guzman/DA-RAFIS 6)
