ANTIQUE – The biggest hog-raisers association in the province said it is willing to supply live swine for consumption in the capital town.
This after The Sibalom Livestock and Poultry-raisers Association (SILPRA) president Elma Peña confirmed that they still have members whose farms had not been affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF).
“We have members in the barangays of Sibalom like Imparayan whose farms have not yet been affected by ASF, and could supply at least six to eight heads of live weight daily,” Peña said in an interview.
She added that SILPRA, which has around 490 members from various municipalities in the province, could sell the live weight for P200 per kilogram to the Tradetown Meat Vendors Association (TMVA) at Dalipe Tradetown in San Jose de Buenavista.
“If ever they decide to buy from SILPRA, TVMA members could still make a profit with the current selling price of P350 per kilo of pork,” Peña said.
Currently, SILPRA is transporting around 40 to 50 hogs to Iloilo and other neighboring provinces, three to four times a week.
“If only the San Jose de Buenavista Municipal Economic Enterprise and Development Office (MEEDO) could coordinate with the MEEDOs of the other towns, I am pretty sure they could get the supply also from other hog-raisers,” she noted.
In a separate interview, San Jose de Buenavista MEEDO head Darcy Bungay said they are pushing TMVA, led by its president Julius Singuran, to negotiate with SILPRA for the supply.
To recall, 22 members of the TMVA in San Jose de Buenavista were unable to sell pork to their customers last Nov. 8 because their only supplier failed to deliver the stocks due to an ASF case in the supplier’s municipality last July 18.
Bungay pointed out that Executive Order 238 issued by Gov. Rhodora J. Cadiao on Nov. 13 allows the entry into the province of live swine, pork, pork products, and by-products from ASF-free provinces and cities to stabilize the capital’s pork supply, especially this Christmas season.
“Gov. Cadiao, heeding the resolution submitted by the San Jose de Buenavista Municipal Price Coordinating Council, has allowed the entry of live swine, pork, pork products and by-products to Antique,” he said. (PNA)/PN
