FEBRUARY 08, 2021
A worker in a hog and meat dealer business in Tondo, Manila readies frozen imported pork cuts sourced from Canada for delivery to retailers. The dealer also buys from live hogs from piggeries in General Santos City in Mindanao but in fewer numbers due to a combination of high prices and the added costs they must shoulder by the time it is ready to be sold to meat retailers in the market. Hog raisers in parts of Mindanao and Visayas are delivering pigs to Metro Manila weekly to increase supply and lower the cost of pork.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has increased the minimum access volume (MAV) for pork imports from 54,210 metric tons (MT) to 254,210 MT, lower than the original proposal of 404,210 MT.
Duterte issued the directive via Executive Order No. 133 signed on May 10, but only made public Tuesday.
READ: President Duterte increases minimum access volume for pork from 54,210 metric tons to 254,210 metric tons | @KAguilarINQ pic.twitter.com/gkkDJUczR6
— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) May 11, 2021
The President also ordered the MAV management committee to ensure allocation of the volume importation is “fair and open” to all qualified importers of pork meat.
“It is imperative to immediately address the current supply gap in pork meat, to provide consumers with adequate and affordable food, and to lower inflation,” the EO stated.
Duterte has also declared a state of calamity due to the African Swine Fever outbreak.