A provincial government official on Friday assured that Bohol remains self-sufficient in terms of pork supply even amid the continued ban on the entry of live hogs, pork and pork-related products into the province as part of efforts to keep the province free from African swine fever (ASF).
According to Provincial Veterinarian Bing Lapiz, Bohol is “231 percent” pork-sufficient.
Lapiz said the pork supply in Bohol is sufficient enough to even allow the province to supply 1,000 heads of hogs to other localities per month.
High prices
However, the official noted that the average price of pork meat in the province has been at P280 per kilo, higher than the previous normal price of P240.
“Diha ra sa P240 atong presyo magdagan-dagan sauna 240, 245 ana ra g’yud ta,” she said.
Some towns are selling pork meat at P250 per kilo, which is the lowest as of the moment, but others are selling their products at P300 per kilo.
“Naay uban na nag P300 na mao ng mag meeting man ang price monitoring karong palis, usa na sa e-discuss namo, ga andam na mi og mga data,” Lapiz said.
Lapiz said the increase in pork prices is caused by the rising cost of live hogs which is driven up by their higher demand in other localities that have been hit by ASF or have inadequate supply.
Prices of live hogs are currently at P140 to P160, higher than the previous normal range of P100 to P120.
“Tungod kay ang palit sa mangihaway mahal-mahal na man, mao ng nisaka pud ang karne. Pero kanang P130 taas na jud na kaajo,” she added.
The provincial veterinarian however noted that the current price range of pork products in Bohol is similar to that of neighboring provinces such as Negros Oriental and Cebu.
“Matud pa sa atoang Regional Agribusiness Division, pare-pareho ra ta og presyo with our neighboring provinces,” she said.
Governor Art Yap, in a press briefing on Friday, said that if pork prices in the province become “unreasonable,” he will consider opening up Bohol to receive pork products from “green zone” areas or those considered safe from ASF.
“Sa karong panahona ra, atong gisara atong borders at this point in time. But at such point in time na mura’g kinahanglan na nato ablihan balik ang atong borders, we will so open only from green zones and non-infected areas,” Yap said.
Earlier, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan approved an ordinance banning the entry of live hogs, pork and pork-related products into Bohol to prevent the spread of the highly contagious ASF in the province, whose hog industry was estimated by Yap to be worth P6 billion. (R. Tutas)