MANILA – The Philippine Association of Meat Processors, Inc. (PAMPI) said imported meat products helped the country continue the manufacturing of processed meat, ensuring sufficient food supply amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
In a letter to Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar dated June 18, 2020, PAMPI said its members produced 256.2 million canned goods from March to May amid the lockdown measures implemented by the government.
On top of this, around 3.7 million kilograms of frozen processed meat were manufactured and distributed through different channels.
It added that these processed meat products were distributed by national relief agencies, local government units, and volunteer groups across the country to community quarantine-affected individuals.
“Since March when ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) was declared, the meat product imports that are being demanded to be banned by a group of poultry lobbyists enabled our industry to produce processed meat products that feed millions of our people up to today even as we write you this letter,” PAMPI stated.
PAMPI warned that some groups are lobbying to ban the importation of meat products.
"We want to express our alarm at a well-orchestrated but subtle attempt by vested groups to provoke a crisis and destabilize the economy by spreading false or misleading information and blame you (Dar) for it. Such groups have been lobbying your department (DA) and politicians to ban importation of meat products," it said.
Earlier, Dar assured that the DA is committed to continue working closely with stakeholders of the country's meat and poultry industries to further enhance their productivity and competitiveness.
"The DA continues to innovate and build needed infrastructure and processing facilities to modernize not only the country's poultry industry, but also the entire agriculture and fishery sector, making it more productive, resilient, and globally-competitive," he said. (PNA)
