‘PH to import more pork to address shortage’

MANILA — The country needs to resort to more importation of pork to address the shortage of supply amid the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in many parts of the country, particularly in the Visayas, according to a ranking official of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

At a press conference, Agriculture Assistant Secretary for operations Arnel de Mesa assured the public that the DA is coordinating with the private sector to manage the volume of pork products to be sourced from other countries.

“In terms of supply, because of the ASF, we really need to import pork products until the end of the year,” De Mesa said.

Based on latest data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), total pork importation reached 229,201 kilos from January to May.

“The DA continues to manage the importation together with the private sector so that we will know the volume that we need to import and the total local production,” De Mesa said.

According to De Mesa, the DA expects this year’s pork imports to be lower than last year’s.

At the same time, De Mesa said a declaration of state of calamity can be done only under certain conditions, amid the spread of ASF.

“The declaration of course will depend on the national government,” De Mesa added.

AGAP party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones has pushed for the declaration of state of calamity in the entire country to allow the allocation of funds for the importation of ASF vaccine as the disease is now affecting areas in the Visayas after causing devastation in Luzon.

“We were able to control the cases in Visayas. The cases have already decreased compared to before,” De Mesa added.

He said livestock and poultry production grew by 4.1 percent in 2022 compared to 2021 as hog raisers in Luzon were able to repopulate after being hit by ASF.

“Based on our data, we were able to recover. The livestock and poultry production grew by 4.1 percent in 2022,” De Mesa pointed out.

For her part, BAI assistant director Arlene Vytiaco said that based on laboratory tests, ASF caused the death of piglets in Antique.

“Antique is one of the provinces affected by the ASF. We have laboratory tests. There was already confirmation based on the laboratory tests,” she added.

Vytiaco said that the BAI continues to conduct surveillance to control the outbreak of ASF in the Visayas.

Based on monitoring of the DA, retail prices of pork ham ranged between P280 and P390 per kilo; pork liempo, between P340 and P390 per kilo.