REGULATE. San Jose Mayor Elmer Untaran (left) convenes the Municipal Price Coordinating Council on Thursday. San Jose Municipal Economic Enterprise and Development Officer Darcy Bungay said on Friday (Nov. 10, 2023) the council passed a resolution urging the regulation of pork shipment outside Antique to ensure enough supply in the local market. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – This town’s price coordinating council (PCC) on Thursday passed a resolution for the provincial government to regulate the shipment of swine outside of Antique to ensure enough supply of pork in various markets in the province.
“We urge the governor to issue an EO (executive order) for the regulation of the shipment to prevent the shortage of pork in the local market,” San Jose Municipal Economic Enterprise and Development Officer (MEEDO) Darcy Bungay said in an interview on Friday.
In the resolution, the municipal PCC urged Governor Rhodora Cadiao to convene its counterpart at the provincial level to tackle the insufficient supply of pork in Antique and allow the importation of pork and its by-products from areas where there are no cases of African swine fever (ASF).
“We anticipate that with the Christmas season around, there will be more demand for pork that regulation is needed,” Bungay said.
Meat vendors at the Dalipe Tradetown in San Jose de Buenavista had to stop operations on Nov. 8 due to a lack of supply, which they attributed to the depletion of the liveweight because of ASF.
Bugay said the Tradetown Market Vendors Association (TMVA) in the town will collaborate with the Sibalom Livestock and Poultry Raisers Association (SILPRA) for the pork supply.
“The TMVA will be sourcing the pork from SILPRA,” he said.
SILPRA is an association of hog raisers in Sibalom and from other towns in the province engaged in consolidating and selling liveweight in Antique and other parts of the country.
Dr. Rafael Marco Ardamil, Antique Provincial Veterinarian Office Public Health Division chief, said the province is not yet free of ASF.
“The threat of ASF is still ongoing,” he said.
He added they can still source their stocks from 15 other municipalities in Antique since only Hamtic, San Jose de Buenavista, and Belison towns have confirmed ASF cases.
He said regulating the shipment of liveweight outside the province could prevent the shortage of pork since traders could only sell their products to nearby provinces like Iloilo and Aklan, where the buying price of PHP215 per kilo is higher than the PHP200 per kilo buying price in Antique. (PNA)
