Pork sales post 20 percent decline due to misconception over ASF

Members of the Central Visayas Pork Producers Cooperative led by its President Rolando Tambago (in red jacket) urge consumers to continue to patronize local meat. | Irene R. Sino Cruz

CEBU CITY– The sales of pork in Cebu dropped by at least 20 percent this week and shortly after the Department of Agriculture (DA) confirmed cases of African Swine Flu (ASF) in two provinces in Luzon.

Rolando Tambago, president of Central Visayas Pork Producers Cooperative (CeViPPCo), said that the drop in their sales is beginning to hurt local pork producers.

CeViPPCo officials led by Tambago called for a press conference today, September 25, to clarify misconceptions about the ASF.

“We want to educate the consumers that eating pork is safe for humans,” Tambago said.

He also stressed that Cebu has remained ASF-free.

Tambago is asking the public to continue to consume locally produced meat and meat products.

He said that the local pork industry is a source of livelihood for 150, 000 families who will suffer if sales don’t bounce back in the coming days.

Cebu, which is the 4th largest pork producer in the country, has an annual production of 53,890 metric tons valued at P11 billion.

CeViPPCo vice president Antonio Chiong called on the public to continue to support the local producers.

Meanwhile, Santiago Tanchan Jr., a CeViPPCo member, read a joint statement by CeViPPCo and the Cebu Association of Veterinary Salesforce, which reiterated the need to protect the local hog industry ‘at all cost.’

According to Tanchan, the 150,000 families who earn from the local pork industry stand to lose their means of living “if we fail to stop ASF from entering our territory.”

Although some groups claimed that their pork related products are processed at extreme heat that would destroy the ASF virus, Tambago maintained that they could not wait for scientific proof to determine if heat-processed pork products would be safe for Cebu’s farm pigs.

Also, he noted that the local hog raisers supplies 85 percent of the demand for pork in Cebu, while the rest comes from other areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Tambago said they would be willing to urge for the Cebu provincial government to already lift the ban on pork and pork products coming from Luzon if the ASF has been addressed.

However, he stressed that they would also ask for an extension of the ban if they see the need for it./ dcb