DA assures enough pork supply for Christmas in RP

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has assured consumers of sufficient pork supply for the Christmas season, as it expects the importation of some 20,000 metric tons of pork in the last quarter. DA Assistant Secretary Salvador Salacup said in a radio interview that the government had allowed the entry of the 20,000 tons of pork form other countries. “Batay sa survey last year, paboritong inihahain sa Kapaskuhan ng mga Pilipino ang karneng baboy ... kaya kailangan ang 20,000 metric tons na importation na yan (A survey last year showed Filipinos’ favorite dishes for the holidays were pork-based ... That’s why we may need about 20,000 metric tons)," he said in an interview on dzBB radio. But he said the importation stemmed from whammies that hit hog growers in the country this year, including the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and pneumonia. The diseases particularly affected hog growers based in Central and Southern Luzon, he said. Making matters worse for the hog growers were the floods that devastated parts of Central and Southern Luzon, he added. “Even before storm ‘Ondoy’ (Ketsana) hit our country, nag-usap kami ng mga producer. Ang working figure, 20,000 tons ang shortage come last quarter of this year, October is already upon us. So we’re encouraging the private sector to bring in imports of special pork cuts from foreign sources like Canada and the US," he said. (Even before Ondoy hit our country, we talked with producers of pork. The working figure was that we may be short by 20,000 metric tons for the last quarter of 2009. October is now upon us. So we’re encouraging the private sector to bring in imports of special pork cuts from sources like Canada and the United States). - GMANews.TV