Farm dept. mulls price cap on pork

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking at imposing a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for pork as prices remain elevated amid reports of profiteering.

The price of pork is almost double the farmgate price, suggesting a potential abuse of prices in markets, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said at a Palace briefing, after discussing the issue with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

He cited a gap of about P100 between the farmgate prices of PHP 240 and PHP 250 per kilo and the market prices of PHP 380 to PHP 420 per kilo.

“We’re currently studying that and digging deep into the whole value chain of pork, and finding out whether or not there is profiteering,” Mr. Laurel said.

“If we have identified that there’s profiteering, then definitely we will be doing an MSRP also for pork.”

The DA has resorted to the MSRP scheme for imported rice in a bid to curb prices. The MSRP was set at P55 per kilo of imported rice with broken grain content of 5%, which will take effect nationwide starting Feb. 15.

Mr. Laurel said pork prices above P400 per kilo is “unreasonable.”

DA data last week showed that pork prices have risen to as much as PHP 480 per kilo. The price of pork belly ranges from PHP 380 to PHP 480 per kilo, while pork ham or kasim ranged from PHP 340 to PHP 420 per kilo.

“Farmgate price remains between P220 and P240 per kilo for the past weeks, which means retail prices should not exceed PHP 380 per kilo,” Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura Executive Director Jayson H. Cainglet said.

“Selling beyond PHP 400 per kilo is not reflective of the actual pork prices,” he said in a Viber message.

Former Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar attributed the surge in pork prices to the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF), which has lowered supply.

“The government must step up efforts and vigorously put up biosafety measures to stem the spread of ASF,” he said in a Viber message.

As of Jan. 31, 15 provinces in nine regions have active ASF cases, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry.

“Where is the much-promoted vaccine against ASF as espoused by the DA and the private sector? If such a vaccine is really working, then why not a massive nationwide vaccination of pigs be done,” Mr. Dar added.

The government began the controlled rollout of Vietnam-made ASF vaccines in late August 2024, with a focus on hogs in Lobo, Batangas, one of the hotspots for the disease that has severely impacted the sector since 2019.

“The piggeries, both backyard and big one, have to elevate their biosafety interventions,” Mr. Dar said.

Mr. Dar said the DA should strengthen coordination with local government units (LGUs) to ensure that quarantine measures are properly followed. Leonardo A. Lanzona, who teaches economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, said higher pork prices indicate “further supply-side constraints” that are also faced by other food commodities such as rice and tomatoes.

“It therefore cannot be attributed to profiteering of individual traders but a systemic or aggregate failure in the country’s agricultural sector,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Meanwhile, Mr. Laurel said Mr. Marcos was briefed on the food situation in the country during Monday’s meeting attended by representatives from the National Economic and Development Authority and the Department of Labor and Employment.

The meeting was held just days after the DA declared a national rice emergency for rice amid an “extraordinary” spike in the prices of the staple grain despite lower tariffs for imports.

Mr. Laurel said the agency is set to release National Food Authority rice buffer stock by next week, with over 50 LGUs expressing interest in purchasing the rice stocks.

Meanwhile, Mr. Laurel said the DA has already blacklisted 16 companies as it combats illegal trade practices. The companies, four of which were already charged for illegal trade practices, were involved in importation of vegetables and fish. — K.A.T. Atienza