HOG shipments from various parts of the country to Metro Manila under the ongoing initiative to augment pork supply in the capital region is nearing 345,000 heads, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
In a report, the DA said an additional 5,592 hogs were delivered to Metro Manila on April 25, bringing the cumulative total to 343,435 hogs since the government’s implementation of price controls on Feb. 8.
From the new shipments, 3,826 hogs came from South Cotabato and General Santos City, followed by Batangas and Quezon at 1,208 hogs, and Oriental Mindoro at 440 hogs.
Other areas that sent supply were Davao City at 110 hogs and Tarlac at 8.
Since Feb. 8, CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) accounted for the highest share of total hog deliveries among provinces at 42.68%, followed by Western Visayas at 20.9%, and MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan) at 12.44%.
Meanwhile, the DA said an additional 21,163 kilograms of pork in carcass form arrived in Metro Manila on April 25. The new shipments brought the total pork carcass deliveries to 2.372 million kilograms since Feb. 8.
The ongoing delivery of hogs from other provinces to Metro Manila is part of the government’s effort to augment supply and bring down retail prices amid the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak.
After the price controls ended on April 8, the DA replaced it with the implementation of a suggested retail price (SRP) for imported pork shoulder (kasim) at P270 per kilogram (/kg), and imported pork belly (liempo) at P350/kg.
Under the previous price cap, pork kasim was priced at P270/kg, pork liempo at P300/kg, and whole chicken at P160/kg.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte also signed Executive Order No. 128 on April 7 that lowered the tariff rates for pork imports within the minimum access volume (MAV) quota to 5% in the first three months, which will increase to 10% in the following nine months.
The tariff of out-quota pork imports were also lowered to 15% in the first three months, and up to 20% in the succeeding nine months.
Previously, pork imports within the MAV quota paid 30% tariff, while out-quota pork imports paid 40%.
Mr. Duterte also recommended to increase the volume of pork imports within the MAV quota by 350,000 metric tons (MT), to go with the current allocation of 54,210 MT, after the DA projected a pork supply deficit of around 400,000 MT after the country’s hog inventory was affected by African Swine Fever (ASF). — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave