• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
High pork meat demand in Panay Island has led to increase in prices of the commodity in Negros Occidental, Provincial Veterinarian Placeda Lemana said on Monday (March 10).
Lemana said that farmers prefer to sell their hogs outside of Negros Occidental because of higher prices compared to the amount being offered by local traders.
Based on the monitoring of the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO), pork meat is being sold as high as P400 per kilogram (kg.) in Negros Occidental, and even up to P420 in highly-urbanized Bacolod City.
Last month, traders shipped about 5,000 hogs to Panay alone, Lemana said.
She said that while there is no shortage of pork meat supply in the province, traders took advantage of selling their hogs to Panay traders.
Prices range from P235 to P240 per kg. on live weight compared to P230 per kg. offered by local traders.
Local traders cannot compete with the prices being offered by traders in Panay, Lemana said.
The average price increase of pork meat is about P7 per kilo comparing the Feb. 24 and March 3 data of the PVO.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture is looking at imposing a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for pork as prices remain elevated amid reports of profiteering.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. noted that the price of pork is almost double the farmgate price, suggesting a potential abuse of prices in markets.
Laurel cited a gap of about P100 between the farmgate prices of P240 and P250 per kilo and the market prices of P380 to P420 per kilo.
“We’re currently studying that and digging deep into the whole value chain of pork, and finding out whether or not there is profiteering,” Laurel said.
“If we have identified that there’s profiteering, then definitely we will be doing an MSRP also for pork,” he added. | GB
