‘No price cap on lechon despite increase in demand’

MANILA, Philippines —  Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. yesterday said that the Department of Agriculture (DA) has no plan to implement a price cap on lechon or roasted pig amid the expected increase in demand during the holidays.

He also assured the public of enough supply of pork, noting that the importation of frozen pork has increased by 10 percent this year compared to last year.

“I was looking at the import numbers the other day, it showed that there is 10 percent more importation of pork this year than last year but it is not significant as it is only 10 percent, considering many pigs died (because of African swine fever or ASF),” Tiu Laurel added.

He noted that in General Santos City alone, only 1.8 million pigs out of eight million survived because of the ASF outbreak.

The agriculture chief expects the retail price of pork will slightly increase because of the demand.

Based on DA’s monitoring in Metro Manila markets, the retail price of pork ranged between P270 and P360 per kilo and pork belly between P310 and P400 per kilo.

“We have so much supply (of frozen pork) which arrived in the piers, so it (retail price) should stabilize,” Tiu Laurel said.

Hog raisers also assured consumers that the country would have sufficient pork stocks during the holidays.

He said local pig raisers ramped up their production in the past three months to ensure that there would be no supply issues come December, when demand for pork is usually higher compared to other months of the year. –  Jasper Emmanuel Arcalas