LGUs urged to lift pork ban

MANILA, Philippines — Hog raisers are urging local government units (LGUs) to allow the movement of live hogs and pork products in their respective areas to cut their losses brought by the spread of the African swine fever (ASF).

The plea was made during a joint House hearing on Monday as the ban continued to affect local swine trade, resulting in huge losses to local hog producers.

“The industry is now having problems with ASF, especially regarding with the closure of borders of different provinces,” Pork Producers of the Philippines Inc. member Analiza Uy said.

“We would like to request governors to lift their ban on passing through of live hogs and selling of meat,” Uy said.

Ramon Lim, member of the Tarlac Association of Swine and Poultry Inc., said the move to maintain the ban could result in the overpopulation of pig farms which, in turn, could bring respiratory diseases to the industry.

“We don’t know what are the real motives of these bans,” he said. “We’ve been on lockdown … We’re selling our pigs between P50 and P60 a kilogram.”

P64.77-B losses

Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan said the local livestock industry had lost P1 billion during the first month since the first ASF outbreak was reported.

However, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura placed the losses at P64.77 billion during the first two months of the outbreak due to the drastic drop in the farmgate price of hogs.

The prevailing buying price for hogs per live weight has dropped to between P60 to P90 a kilo from P110 a kilo last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

This was significantly lower than the rates in China, where hogs were being sold at P400 a kilo per live weight.

Since the ASF hit Luzon, around 80 percent of the country’s LGUs banned the entry of pork and pork products from ASF-affected areas into their respective localities.

The ban stood despite a circular by the Department of the Interior and Local Government seeking to lift the restriction.