Malacañang on Monday urged pork sellers to continue selling pork despite price restrictions imposed by the government.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque said that some sellers had stopped selling pork due to the price cap and demand for pork among consumers was low due to pork products being expensive.
“Sinusuportahan po natin iyong advocacy na alternative pork sources pero nakikiusap po kami sa ating mga nagtitinda, sana po ay ipagpatuloy ninyo ang pagtitinda ng baboy,” Roque said in a virtual presser.
Roque revealed that a group of South Cotabato-based swine producers had vowed to supply Metro Manila with 10,000 heads of hogs weekly.
The capital region will also import pork from other sources in the Visayas and Mindanao, Roque said.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) 124 on Feb. 1, setting the following price caps:
Pork (pigue) – P270 per kilo
Pork liempo – P300 per kilo
Dressed chicken – P160 per kilo
The order stated that the local pork output was reduced due to the African swine fever outbreak.
“[T]he current retail prices of basic necessities in the National Capital Region such as pork and chicken have increased significantly, causing undue burden to Filipinos, especially the underprivileged and marginalized,” the EO read. John Ezekiel J. Hirro