Chickens replace pigs in Benguet rituals due to ASF

COMMUNITY FEST | A man catches a native black pig in a community festival in Benguet in this 2014 photo. (File photo by EV ESPIRITU / Inquirer Northern Luzon)

BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — The outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) that began in 2019 has made hogs expensive in the Cordillera region, so chickens have replaced pigs in rituals held during the campaign season in Benguet province, officials said on Tuesday.

Three waves of swine fever outbreaks affected Cordillera hog farmers in 47 towns and 115 villages from 2019 to early this year, leading to swine “depopulation” of at least 8,811 pigs, according to Cameron Odsey, Cordillera director of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The first wave occurred between October 2019 and February 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a Luzon lockdown, only to surge in a second peak wave from June to September 2020. The third wave happened from January to May this year, affecting the provinces of Abra and Apayao.

Because most hog raisers in the region operate backyard pens instead of commercial farms, virus transmissions are quickly contained and managed, said Odsey at a press briefing.

But no complaints had emerged about the disease’s impact on supply, said Dr. Miriam Tiongan, Benguet provincial veterinarian.

Election activities

As of September last year, the region’s hog inventory lost 18 percent (16,921 pigs) of its total 89,466 backyard animals and 5,525 pigs grown in commercial pens.

However, many candidates who campaigned in Benguet for the elections last month chose to sacrifice poultry for “good luck,” Tiongan said.

Black pigs are required for ritual feasts and for ritual “blessings” when people attend village gatherings, including election-related activities before the pandemic struck, said Jimmy Fong, dean of the College of Arts and Communication at the University of the Philippines Baguio, who has conducted extensive studies in Cordillera culture.

Lingering concerns about ASF affected demand at the time, Fong said.

Prices of medium-sized live hogs reached as much as P20,000 to P25,000 each, “which was prohibitive,” said former Benguet Rep. Ronald Cosalan, in a separate interview, adding that prices made no distinction between regular and black pigs.

Cosalan said community elders tried to maintain tradition, requiring native chickens, and not the commercial broilers, when offered to Benguet’s ancestral spirits. “Cañao” (community feasts) still require pigs.

The campaign gatherings were also smaller, Fong added, noting that buying a pig would have been impractical.

—VINCENT CABREZA

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