ROASTERS | “Lechoneros,” the men and women who roast pigs for a living, from the village of Lasip Chico in Dagupan City put pigs over a fire, continuously turning the metal pole until they turn brown at the first “Lechonan ed Barangay” on Saturday, May 6. Photo by Willie Lomibao
DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan, Philippines – Just an hour after they finished roasting over the coals, 14 lechons (roasted pigs) were sold by participants at the “Lechonan ed Barangay” staged by Barangay Lasip-Chico in this city on Saturday, May 6.
The lechons, sold at P700 each kilo, were snapped in a flash. That was lower than the prevailing price of P800 to P850 per kilo, barangay chief Aldwin Dexter Meneses said in an interview.
The “Lechonan ed Barangay” was a part of the barangay fiesta and was held to help the residents engage in the industry that was affected by the high prices of pigs and the pandemic.
The activity, staged for the first time this year, bore the theme the “The Rise of the City’s Lechon Capital.”
Meneses said there are about 50 families whose livelihood is roasting pigs (maglilitson).
“The Lechonan ed Barangay is our way to helping them, to enable them to rise from the pandemic coupled with high prices of pigs,” he said.
There was a free tasting, after which all the lechon were put up on sale.
The activity, held at an empty lot along the Old de Venecia road, lured not just the villagers but motorists passing by.
Roasting started at 7 a.m. and finished at 10:30 a.m.
By 11:30 a.m. every morsel was sold.