Visayas, Mindanao assured of enough pork supply for next 3 months

Officials of local government units (LGUs) in the Visayas and Mindanao assured consumers that the current supply of pork and other pork products in their respective areas were enough to cover the entire holiday season.

The guarantee was made by chief veterinarians, meat processors and hog producers in the regions during the National Food Summit last week, as 65 LGUs maintained the ban on the shipment and sale of live pigs and processed meat from ASF (African swine fever)-affected areas in Luzon.

Industry group Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) earlier warned that the continuous imposition of the ban could dampen this year’s Christmas festivities for this might lead to a shortage of Christmas hams especially in the provinces.

“While Cebu and Cagayan de Oro have their own production capabilities, their total production will not be able to supply the needs of the regions unless the ban on Luzon-produced pork-based processed meats is rationalized,” the group earlier said.

But according to Rolando Tambago, president of Cebu-based Virginia Farms Inc. and of Central Visayas Pork Producer Cooperative, the processing industry in the regions could supply the provinces for over three months.

“In Cebu alone we have at least four major players in processing. In fact, they are members of Pampi. I had a meeting with them two weeks ago and they promised that by the last week of October they would begin displaying hams. They also improved production capabilities for possible shortages so they could also supply Luzon if there would be a need to. There won’t be a shortage in VisMin (Visayas and Mindanao) over the next three months,” he said.

Chester Warren Tan, president of National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc., said the regions had more than enough supply and regional players expressed their willingness to cater to Luzon’s needs if there would be excess in production.

Currently, about 80 percent of the country’s LGUs have banned the entry of pork and pork products in their respective areas to contain the spread of the ASF virus. These orders stood despite a memorandum circular issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government requesting to lift the said restrictions.

Tan said their group was supporting the decision of these LGUs to protect their respective livestock industries, especially those who were engaged in backyard hog raising.