MEAT vendors and processors assured the public that pork meat in all public markets in Davao City is safe from African Swine Fever (ASF) since they source it from certified hog farms.
Federation of Public Market Vendors of Davao City president Eden Guira said meat vendors in public markets in Bangkerohan, Buhangin, Agdao, and Matina get their live hogs to be slaughtered from big farms in the city because they buy in volume.
Most of the ASF-positive hogs reported came from backyard farms.
“Wala mi naga palit sa Calinan kundili within the city nga big farms kay kung didto mi mukuha gamay lang man to sila, mga lima, unom (We do not source from Calinan because they can only provide us five to six hogs instead we source from the big farms in the city),” she said.
Guira, who is also a meat vendor and supplier in Bankerohan and Matina public markets, said she usually gets about 120 swine heads per day.
However, the outbreak of ASF in the region has caused the decrease of slaughtered swine heads.
Maa slaughterhouse operations manager Charlemagne Aldevera, Jr. said starting January this year, the number of swine heads being slaughtered dropped to 200 heads from 600.
“Ang ginamatada na lang for consumption na lang sa Davao City kay ang atong baboy dili na makagawas og Panabo and Digos tungod sa lockdown (What we slaughter is only for the consumption of Davao City because our hogs can no longer reach Panabo or Digos due to the lockdown),” Aldevera said.
He said majority of the meat being sold in the four public markets passes through the Maa Slaughterhouse and has remained class AA as per classification by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).
Guira said the decline of heads is also attributed to the decline in the sales of the meat vendors.
“Kung ako mag sales ko og P100,000 a day, karon P35,000 to P40,000 a day which is dili pa ko makabayad ana sa akong tauhan nga daghan and business licenses (If my income is P100,000 a day, now I earn about P35,000 to P40,000 per day and I struggle to pay my staff and licenses),” she said.
“Nag drop ang volume sa ginapaslaughter from 12 to 15 heads, five or two na lang. Usahay way matada kay dili mahurot (The volume of hogs we slaughter drop from 12 to 15 heads to five or two heads. Sometimes, we do not send hogs to be slaughtered because we still have meat left),” she said.
Apart from supplying pork meat in public markets and supermarkets, some meat processors also buy pork meat from her.
She said the sales of meat processors have also been affected by the situation.
“Wala nay mapalit og baboy unya ang among businesses hangtod na lang Davao (No one is buying pork from us anymore outside the city),” she said.
Guira said they also appealed to the government to lift lockdowns especially in areas where they deliver their meats such as in Tagum, Panabo, Cebu, General Santos.
She said the meat vendors and hog raisers are set to meet with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and other agencies on Tuesday, February 25.
“Unta hatagan mig help nga ang (City) Veterinary, DA, NMIS nga magdeclare sila nga free na gyud ta sa ASF. Wala na gyud tay ASF diri (I hope the City Veterinary Office, DA, NMIS declare that Davao City is free from ASF. That we no longer have ASF here),” Guira said.
She said the public should not also worry since ASF does not affect humans.