ILOILO – Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. assured the public that the supply of pork is sufficient for the holiday season despite confirmed cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the towns of Oton, San Miguel, Alimodian, Leganes, Santa Barbara, and New Lucena.
“(Sa) initial naton nga pag-usisa, we have enough,” said Defensor.
According to Defensor, the supply of pork in markets throughout Iloilo has been monitored since a few days ago, and the provincial government guarantees that there is enough supply, even for pork products.
In terms of prices, the governor said there has been no significant increase as of initial monitoring.
Defensor also said he will be coordinating with the Department of Agriculture and the Iloilo Provincial Agriculture Office to obtain validated and updated market pork prices this week.
Meanwhile, Ernesto Gulaylay of Barangay Pal-agon, Pavia town told Panay News that pork used to cost P280 per kilo before ASF’s entry into the province but it is now around P240 per kilo.
So far, Gulaylay, who sells pork at the public market of Pavia town, said he has no problems with regards to supply since there are still many live pigs within Pavia.
However, he lamented lesser sales; he can barely dispense one whole swine in a day nows.
“Mabakal sadtu. Sang nagsugod ang ASF daw naghina. Isa ka bilog daw indi mapaubos sa isa ka adlaw,” said Gulaylay.
He said people are scared of ASF.
Arthur Guileño of Barangay Purok 1, Pavia, on the other hand, said prices are stable and have not changed at around P240 per kilo.
However, he is experiencing sluggish sales.
“Naapektohan gid eh. Hina. Sa isa ka adlaw isa lang mapaubos, kis-a indi pa gani mapaubos,” said Guileño.
Aside from ASF, he believes another reason for low pork sales are the people’s poor economic conditions./PN
