Meat vendors at Commonwealth Market, Quezon City. (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino consumers may need to consider changing their menu for this Christmas season after the government said that the domestic stockpile of pork slightly decreased in the fourth quarter of this year.
“There will be a slight decline in the local supply of pork,” Lani Plata Cerna, supervising science research specialist at the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), said at the Laging Handa public briefing, referring to the Department of Agriculture’s supply outlook as of October.
The inventory of frozen pork in accredited cold storage facilities reached 113,267.19 metric tons as of Nov. 21, up by 1.2 percent from a week ago, according to the latest tally from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).
As per NMIS, imported frozen pork accounted for the majority with 110,850.43 MT while the remaining 2,416.76 MT are produced locally.
Cerna noted the country’s sufficiency level for pork is at 95 percent in the last quarter of 2022, lower than 121 percent recorded in the third quarter.
Despite the meager dip, the country is assured of ample supply as the Philippines continues to import frozen meat from various countries.
Surveillance
Latest figures from the BAI showed the country sourced 1.01 billion kilograms of meat from January to September this year. More than half of meat imports comprised of pork, which totaled 545.2 million kg, mostly sourced from Spain.
The African swine fever (ASF), which was first detected in 2019, is presently active in six regions, namely Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Soccsksargen.
Samuel Joseph Castro, the deputy national program coordinator of the National African Swine Fever Prevention and Control Program, said the situation continues to improve but surveillance efforts are ongoing.
“Those that were previously affected by ASF, if they repopulate, they need to ensure safety and beef up biosecurity so that the animal disease won’t hit them again,” said Castro.
In Metro Manila markets, pork ham (kasim) retails for P300 per kg, down from P330 per kg, based on the Department of Agriculture’s price monitoring.
Pork liempo is sold for P360 per kg, unchanged from a year prior.