The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday announced plans to buy and sell local pork, through the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), to provide a cheaper option for Filipino consumers.
Prices of retail pork remained elevated despite its agreement with industry stakeholders to set a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP).
The MSRP for pork was initially set at PHP350 per kilogram of kasim (ham); PHP380/kg for liempo (belly); and PHP300/kg for “sabit-ulo,” which refers to the price at which traders sell pork to retailers.
In a press conference, DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said government intervention will be in place if high retail prices persist.
“Isa sa mga plano ang (One of the plans of) FTI will also buy sa market ng baboy at dahil siya ay, kagaya ng ginagawa niya sa bigas hindi siya kikita, hindi siya malulugi. Walang masyadong layers, pwede silang magbenta ng mas mura (buy pork in the market and just as what it did for rice, it’s neither gaining profit nor suffering loss. There are no layers, and they can sell at a cheaper price),” he said.
De Mesa said the mechanics on where to sell the cheaper pork and for how much are yet to be determined.
De Mesa bared the FTI’s plans amid reportedly low compliance with the pork MSRP among retailers and “byaheros” (pork traders) a week after its implementation.
According to the DA’s monitoring, only 20 percent of the 170 monitored stalls are compliant with the MSRP, while only 6 percent to 7 percent pork traders for the “sabit-ulo.”
“So what does this tell us? Kapag hindi compliant sa “sabit-ulo” therefore, mahihirapan sila mag-comply talaga doon sa presyo ng (If they’re not compliant with the “sabit-ulo” therefore, they will have a hard time complying with the) PHP350 to PHP380,” De Mesa said.
As of March 15, the retail prices of pork kasim in Metro Manila range from PHP340/kg to PHP410, with the prevailing price set at PHP380; while it’s PHP355/kg to PHP470/kg for liempo, with PHP420 as prevailing price, according to the DA-Bantay Presyo (Price Watch).
Besides setting the pork MSRP and the FTI’s plan, the DA earlier secured government volume allocation for imported pork to be sold in Kadiwa centers as an alternative option, alongside efforts to intensify the vaccination against African swine fever in coordination with the Food and Drugs Administration, and continued hog repopulation. (PNA)
