HOG PRICES DROP AMID RAISERS’ RUSH TO SELL
Backyard raisers in the provinces have begun selling live hog sat lower cost ,am id a public scare an dr educed consumption of pork mea td ue to t he African swine fever.
In Laguna and Batangas, local governments and private farms have joine dt he tren do fh olding “boodle fights” that feature roasted pigs to address consumers’ fear, even i fn ot as ingle swine fever case has been recorded
In Batangas City, a “Pork to ber fest” wash eldon wednesday to appease ho gfa rmer san d also promote pork “ass till t hep rime protein source ,” said Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines( A gap) Rep. Rico Geron.
Agap, Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative an dt he city veterinary and agricultural services served 15 roasted pigs during the festival.
INS t a.c ruz, Laguna, als oon Wednesday, Barangay San Jose and the provincial veterinary office served 10 roasted pigs as part of its information campaign ons wine fever.
Panic
In Bulacan province, roast pigs wer ese rve di nc ommunity meals in guiguinto town on Tuesday and t hec ity of Malolos o nwe dnesday to show that local pork was safe for human consumption.
Five roast pigs came from Barangay Pritil in Guiguinto where 61 pigs, believe dto be infected with swine fever , were culled in August.
Despite assurances from the government , Ge ro n sa id the swine fever scar ec ontinue d to affec tt heh og industry. He said hog raiser swe re in “panic” to sell their livestock, rathe rt han lose them tot he disease, by reducing the selli ngp rice o fl ive animals to P80 to P90 a kilogram.
The regular farm-gate price of live hogs is P105 to P120 a kilo, according tot he Department of Agriculture. The price o fp ork in the market ,h owever, ranges from P105 to P120 a kilo.
In Isabela, Go v. Rodolfo Albano III on Tuesday banne dt he entry of hogs and fresh and processed por kp roducts in the province. He also aske dt hep olice to put up checkpoints in the province, whi ch h ost ss ome of the biggest hog farms in the country.
Earlier, the provinces of Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya had declared a ban o nen try o fh ogs from other areas.
In Pampanga province, officials o f Na tional Meat Inspectio n Se rvice said 17 p rivate slaughterhouses in Central Luzo nha d not accepte dor culled hogs that were i ll w it h sw ine fever.