Mindanao swine producers ready to supply Cebu City anew

CEBU, Philippines —  Swine producers in General Santos City and South Cotabato have assured a steady, affordable, and quality supply of hogs and other pork products for Cebu City after Mayor Edgardo Labella lifted the ban on the products following an African Swine Fever infection in some parts of Mindanao in February.

“We are happy to resume supplying Cebu City which we have been doing for the last 30 years,” said Ramil Lim, president of the South Cotabato Swine Producers Association (SOCOSPA).

The city lifted the ban through an executive order Labella issued on April 28 after the Department of Agriculture (DA) declared General Santos City and South Cotabato ASF-free.

However, the ban issued by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is still in effect in the Province of Cebu.

“We hope other cities and provinces in the Visayas will follow suit,” Lim said.

Lim said the mayors of Tacloban City and other towns in Southern Leyte have also allowed the entry of live hogs.

SOCOSPA hog raisers shipped an average of eight to 10 20-foot container vans of frozen pig carcasses to Cebu City every week before the ban was imposed in February this year.

Each container van is loaded with 12 tons of headless pig carcasses.

All shipped pork products are inspected and certified by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) before they are loaded into refrigerated vans bound for Cebu and other destinations.

SOCOSPA livestock raisers who hail from General Santos City and South Cotabato are the largest hog producers in Mindanao. They have a combined population of at least 45,000 sows and are capable of producing at least 50,000 hogs every month.

At least 60 percent of SOCOSPA hog production is shipped to the Visayas, particularly in Cebu City.

DAR Secretary William Dar said earlier some 1,700 metric tons of pork meat are immediately available from General Santos and Davao City to also meet a possible supply problem in Metro Manila.

Cebu City meatshop owners have been complaining of low supply of headless pork carcasses. The price of frozen pork carcass has reportedly gone up to P175 per kilo, prompting them to buy from backyard owners, which is still not enough to meet local demands here.

Backyard hogs have low recovery rates which, according to meat shop owners, drive prices of meat products to go up. A kilo of prime pork belly is now reportedly selling at P300 at meat shops in Cebu.

Frozen pig carcasses from General Santos City are priced at P135 to P140 a kilo before the ASF-related ban was imposed. Banat News Copy Editor, JMO (FREEMAN)