THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said 7,167 live hogs and 27,852 kilograms of pork carcasses arrived in Metro Manila on March 2, part of the ongoing effort to augment supply and normalize prices.
According to a DA report, a total of 3,155 live hogs were supplied by the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Iloilo, Guimaras, and Negros Occidental; while 2,086 live hogs arrived from Rizal, Quezon, and Batangas.
Other areas that shipped hogs were General Santos City with 625; Albay, Sorsogon, and Camarines Sur 526 live hogs; Bukidnon 430 live hogs; Oriental Mindoro 280 live hogs; and Tarlac 65 hogs.
The hog shipments have amounted to 108,070 animals since the imposition of one month of price controls on pork products, which took effect on Feb. 8.
Since Feb. 8, the DA said Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) delivered 52,965 live hogs to the capital region, followed by Western Visayas with 16,750, and Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan) at 10,526.
Meanwhile, 27,853 kilograms of pork in carcass form arrived in Metro Manila on March 1.
The new shipments bring deliveries of carcasses to Metro Manila since Feb. 8 to 685,846 kilograms, most from Central Luzon.
The ongoing delivery of live hogs and carcasses to Metro Manila is part of an effort to bring down the retail price of pork in the capital, which has at times topped P400 per kilogram after an outbreak of African Swine Fever depleted the herd.
On Feb. 1, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) No. 124, which imposed a price cap on pork retail prices.
EO 124 capped the retail price of pork shoulder (kasim) at P270 per kilogram, pork belly (liempo) at P300 per kilogram, and whole chicken at P160 per kilogram.
The DA delayed the implementation of the price controls to Feb. 8 to provide the hog industry a grace period to adjust its stocks.
The DA’s price monitoring report on Wednesday indicated that kasim prices ranged from P270 to P340 per kilogram in public markets, while liempo fetched P300 to P360. Whole chicken prices were at P150 to P190 per kilogram. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
