Luzon to 'import' pork and chicken from Visayas, Mindanao
11/04/2009 | 10:00 AM
Saying it plans to "import" pork from Visayas and Mindanao, the government on Wednesday sought to allay fears of a shortage in pork during the Christmas season.
Department of Agriculture assistant secretary Salvador Salacup said suppliers from Visayas and Mindanao have agreed to fill the supply gap in Luzon especially for the coming Yuletide season.
"We dialogued with suppliers from Visayas and Mindanao. Ngayon may kaunting linaw na. Some pork supply will come from General Santos and Cagayan de Oro. Iko-contract natin yan through our distributors in Metro Manila to ensure supply from Mindanao," Salacup said in an interview on dzBB radio.
(We dialogued with suppliers from Visayas and Mindanao. Things are clearing up. Some of
our pork will come from General Santos and Cagayan de Oro Cities. We will contract them to supply Metro Manila consumers through our distributors in Metro Manila.)
"We’re doing all we can, we’re linking with suppliers both domestic and international to ensure we have available pork during the Christmas holidays," he added.
He downplayed fears that transport costs from Mindanao will drive up prices of pork in Metro Manila, saying the pork will come already in boxes, thus eliminating waste problems.
On Tuesday, National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc. (NFHFI) president Albert Lim Jr. said bringing in pork from Mindanao "is not that cheap." Shipping companies levy P15 per kilo of pork from southern Philippines to Manila.
Price ceiling
But Salacup noted that price ceilings are still in effect in Luzon, as a result of recent tropical cyclones “Ondoy" (Ketsana) and “Pepeng" (Parma).
"Remember, we are still [under] price ceiling. We see no reason why there will be an increase in all levels of the agribusiness spectrum from the producer to the viajero to the retailer," he said.
Salacup also said their monitoring of pork prices still show prices at P160 to P170 a kilo. He said they will talk to the sector concerned once the price spikes.
On the other hand, he said the government may import pork from foreign suppliers.
He said that even before Ondoy hit, the government already projected a shortage of 30,000 to 40,000 metric tons, though on producers’ appeals, it agreed on a 20,000-metric ton projected supply gap.
Salacup said the Food Terminal Inc. is now linking with possible suppliers in time for the Christmas period.
Fears of a pork supply shortage for the Christmas season came after Jesus Cham, president of the Meat Importers and Traders Association (MITA) noted that pork sourced from the US, Canada and Europe takes 60 days to arrive in the Philippines. [See: No hamon or even pork adobo for many this Xmas]
Traders and importers were given up to December 15 to bring in as much as 2.5 million kilos of the commodity, the government said.
Pork from Visayas, Mindanao
However, no company from any of the three countries agreed to export that much pork to the Philippines within the specified time period.
But in the meantime, Salacup said Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap stressed the first strategy will be to import pork from Visayas and Mindanao.
Also, Salacup said the deadline for traders and importers to bring in as much as 2.5 million kilos of the commodity by December 15 takes into account possible red tape.
He said a second reason for the deadline was to keep farmgate prices from dampening.
"We want the farmers to have revenues during this period para ma-sustain ang productivity momentum for first quarter of 2010 (We want farmers to have revenues at this time to sustain productivity momentum for the first quarter of 2010)," he said.
Enough rice, chicken supply
On the other hand, Salacup assured the public there is ample supply of rice and chicken meat as well for the Christmas season.
In a separate radio interview, he said the National Food Authority reported to Yap that the country has at least 37 days’ supply of rice.
"Di dapat tayo mangamba on that particular commodity (We should not worry about rice)," he said in an interview on dzXL.
As for chicken, he said major producers and associations will need to import some 5,000 metric tons of chicken during the holidays. - GMANews.TV
Department of Agriculture assistant secretary Salvador Salacup said suppliers from Visayas and Mindanao have agreed to fill the supply gap in Luzon especially for the coming Yuletide season.
"We dialogued with suppliers from Visayas and Mindanao. Ngayon may kaunting linaw na. Some pork supply will come from General Santos and Cagayan de Oro. Iko-contract natin yan through our distributors in Metro Manila to ensure supply from Mindanao," Salacup said in an interview on dzBB radio.
(We dialogued with suppliers from Visayas and Mindanao. Things are clearing up. Some of
our pork will come from General Santos and Cagayan de Oro Cities. We will contract them to supply Metro Manila consumers through our distributors in Metro Manila.)
"We’re doing all we can, we’re linking with suppliers both domestic and international to ensure we have available pork during the Christmas holidays," he added.
He downplayed fears that transport costs from Mindanao will drive up prices of pork in Metro Manila, saying the pork will come already in boxes, thus eliminating waste problems.
On Tuesday, National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc. (NFHFI) president Albert Lim Jr. said bringing in pork from Mindanao "is not that cheap." Shipping companies levy P15 per kilo of pork from southern Philippines to Manila.
Price ceiling
But Salacup noted that price ceilings are still in effect in Luzon, as a result of recent tropical cyclones “Ondoy" (Ketsana) and “Pepeng" (Parma).
"Remember, we are still [under] price ceiling. We see no reason why there will be an increase in all levels of the agribusiness spectrum from the producer to the viajero to the retailer," he said.
Salacup also said their monitoring of pork prices still show prices at P160 to P170 a kilo. He said they will talk to the sector concerned once the price spikes.
On the other hand, he said the government may import pork from foreign suppliers.
He said that even before Ondoy hit, the government already projected a shortage of 30,000 to 40,000 metric tons, though on producers’ appeals, it agreed on a 20,000-metric ton projected supply gap.
Salacup said the Food Terminal Inc. is now linking with possible suppliers in time for the Christmas period.
Fears of a pork supply shortage for the Christmas season came after Jesus Cham, president of the Meat Importers and Traders Association (MITA) noted that pork sourced from the US, Canada and Europe takes 60 days to arrive in the Philippines. [See: No hamon or even pork adobo for many this Xmas]
Traders and importers were given up to December 15 to bring in as much as 2.5 million kilos of the commodity, the government said.
Pork from Visayas, Mindanao
However, no company from any of the three countries agreed to export that much pork to the Philippines within the specified time period.
But in the meantime, Salacup said Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap stressed the first strategy will be to import pork from Visayas and Mindanao.
Also, Salacup said the deadline for traders and importers to bring in as much as 2.5 million kilos of the commodity by December 15 takes into account possible red tape.
He said a second reason for the deadline was to keep farmgate prices from dampening.
"We want the farmers to have revenues during this period para ma-sustain ang productivity momentum for first quarter of 2010 (We want farmers to have revenues at this time to sustain productivity momentum for the first quarter of 2010)," he said.
Enough rice, chicken supply
On the other hand, Salacup assured the public there is ample supply of rice and chicken meat as well for the Christmas season.
In a separate radio interview, he said the National Food Authority reported to Yap that the country has at least 37 days’ supply of rice.
"Di dapat tayo mangamba on that particular commodity (We should not worry about rice)," he said in an interview on dzXL.
As for chicken, he said major producers and associations will need to import some 5,000 metric tons of chicken during the holidays. - GMANews.TV
