LECHON sales in Carcar City in southern Cebu have improved since the African swine fever (ASF) was detected in some of its barangays in the first week of March 2023.
“It is okay now. More and more people are once again buying lechon unlike before,” Carmelita Camanero, a lechon vendor, told SunStar Cebu on Sunday, April 16, 2023.
Camanero has been selling lechon, or roasted pig, for more than 25 years. Her stall is situated inside the New Carcar City Public Market in Poblacion III. She used to sell lechon at the now-demolished old public market near the rotunda.
She said she sells three to five whole lechon on weekends, and one to two whole lechon on weekdays. One lechon can weigh way around 30 to 40 kilos. The average price of lechon per kilo is P600. However, customers can get it for less if they purchase a whole lechon. A lechon that weighs 30 kilos sells for P12,000.
When news first broke out that ASF was detected in the city in March, she said she could barely sell half a whole lechon because people were afraid to buy pigs and pork products.
During that period, she stopped selling every day and only opened her stall during weekends.
“We barely had customers because pigs were getting sick and that affected our sales. It’s a good thing we had loyal patrons. At least, we were able to make some money,” she said in Cebuano.
She said she lost more than P100,000 because of the ASF scare.
Camanero clarified that she only roasts and sells lechon and does not raise her own pigs. She gets her supply from hog raisers in the city.
Citing data from the City Veterinary Office’s, City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete said on March 14, that the city’s hog industry, which includes backyard pig farming, pork meat, lechon and chicharon, earns P120 million to P150 million annually.
Financial aid
Carcar City Mayor Mario Patricio Barcenas, in an interview on Saturday, April 23, said City Government has already compensated backyard hog raisers whose pigs were culled by personnel of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) in March.
“We already paid the hog raisers. Initially we were not interested in compensating them, but since some of them were hard-hit we decided to help. I have to admit we had a hard time finding the money,” he said in Cebuano. “It’s a good thing that the more than 600 pigs were not culled because there was no way the City could compensate the owners.”
To stop the transmission of the virus, all live hogs within a 500-meter radius of an ASF-infected area or farm must be culled, according to the BAI protocol.
However, Barcenas said they only compensated those who had a maximum of 20 pigs. If they had more than that, they weren’t regarded as backyard hog farmers.
For the culled pigs, the City paid P3,000 for a newborn; P7,000 for a fattener; and P10,000 for a breeder.
Among those who received compensation was Mark Sasutana from Sitio Saay in Barangay Can-asujan.
“I received a total of P79,000 last April 13 at the mayor’s office,” he said in Cebuano.
Sasutana had 17 pigs – four breeders and 13 newborns – that were culled.
Meanwhile, Barcenas said they will finalize the list of backyard hog raisers in affected barangays once the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) is over.
Carcar City is currently hosting this year’s CVIRAA Meet, which will start on Monday, April 24, and end on Friday, April 28.
The CVIRAA is a multi-sport competition that qualifies representatives from the region for the Palarong Pambansa, which will take place in Marikina City later this year.
Some 17,000 student athletes are expected to join the event.
Barcenas said he hopes the event will attract visitors and give the local economy a boost.