A MEAT vendor in Bankerohan Public Market observed that the demand of pork meat in the city has normalized since the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak scare in the country
“Katong nag ASF grabe hinay kaayo to. Karon nibalik na man. Mga end of October. Kusog na man. Pareha na among ihaw sa previous [time] (The demand really declined during the outbreak of ASF but it started to normalize around the end of October. We slaughtered the same number of pigs as before),” said Luchay Kabigting, a meat vendor and adviser for the Bankerohan Meat Vendors Association.
Early September this year, the first cases of ASF were recorded in the provinces of Rizal, Bulacan, and Pampanga in Central Luzon, culling about 7,000 pigs.
The outbreak has caused other regions in the country including cities in Davao Region to implement a pork ban to prevent the entry of pork and its by-products from Luzon.
Kabigting, who owns a slaughter house in Panabo City, said the number of pigs they usually slaughter has returned to 10 live hogs on regular days.
She said the number increases to 15 to 20 during peak seasons like Christmas.
She said the supply has not decreased and the prices are steady. The market prices of pierna in Bankerohan Public Market starts from P185 per kilogram while the pork belly ranges from P210 to 220 per kilogram.
Based on the price monitoring of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Marketing Division since the last week of October 2019, the market price range of pierna is P185 to P210 per kilogram while the pork belly is between P220 to P230 per kilogram.
For the live hogs, Alvin Teves past president of Hog Farmers Association of Davao Inc. (HogFADI) said the farm gate prices in Davao City remain between P103 to P106 per kilogram.
“It didn’t change for three to four weeks,” Teves said.
Data provided by the DA also revealed that the volume of hog production in Davao Region is 37,699 metric tons as of 2nd quarter of 2019.