Over 40 vans containing 3,707 heads of live hogs worth PHP38.5 million are expected to arrive in Metro Manila (National Capital Region) via Oceanic Container Lines on Wednesday.

“Today, the vessel will leave our international port in Loboc (Lapuz) and will arrive in Manila tomorrow,” said Maria Teresa Solis, chief of the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) of the Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas (DA-6) in a phone interview, Tuesday.

Solis said these came from livestock auction markets in Panay, particularly in Sibalom, Antique and Leon, Iloilo. Others came from Aklan, Negros Occidental, and Capiz.

Backyard raisers bring their products to the auction markets while commercial traders already have a network with their counterparts in Metro Manila.

“We are one of the regions that are expected to send hogs to Luzon, especially that we are African swine fever-free,” she added.

Solis said since there is an oversupply of hogs in Western Visayas, then the shipment to Manila will continue as long as there is supply and the prices are good.

Before the shipment, traders need to secure a shipping permit from the Bureau of Animal Industry Veterinary Quarantine Service.

The traders are also the ones arranging for transportation with Oceanic.

The shipment has already ready buyers upon their arrival in Manila.

Meantime, a PHP15 per kilo transport subsidy will only be released to traders if they can present a document signed by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) that indeed shipped hogs from this region have reached Metro Manila slaughterhouses.

Public markets in Metro Manila are also linked with hog traders in the region.

On Tuesday, preliminaries were done to match the Sibalom Integrated Livestock and Poultry Raisers Association (SILPRA) with public markets in Metro Manila.

SILPRA, a farmers’ group with more than 1,000 members, is a recipient of a Livestock Oksyon Market (LOM) from the Department of Agriculture (DA).

For this month alone, including Tuesday’s shipment, Western Visayas has already sent 12,364 heads of live hogs. Since last year, the region has been sending hogs to Manila.

From September to December, Western Visayas is the second region with the highest shipment bound to Manila.

The DA, in providing transport support to the shipment, seeks to allay the soaring prices of pork and pork by-products due to the outbreak of the ASF in Luzon.

Last Feb. 15, Western Visayas also shipped 1,600 heads of swine to Metro Manila. (PNA)