Since the Department of Agriculture (DA) started transporting live hogs to Metro Manila, more than 200,000 were already supplied as of Monday (March 22) to pull down the retail prices in public markets.

The 3,775 hogs delivered on March 22 adds up to the total 202,006 hogs that arrived in Metro Manila since Feb. 8, the DA said on Tuesday.

Calabarzon Region (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) delivered the most number of live hogs accounting for 45.53 percent of the deliveries; Western Visayas Region followed with 17.64 percent; while Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan) contributed 11.09 percent; and Soccsksargen brought in 7.70 percent of deliveries.

The supply of pork and pork products in Metro Manila was affected due to an outbreak of the African swine fever (ASF) in some parts of the country. The unmet demand has sent the retail prices soaring prompting the DA to tap its regional offices to deliver surplus pork to the National Capital Region (NCR).

Executive Order 124 which called for the implementation of a price ceiling on pork and chicken stays in effect until April 8.

The EO capped the retail price of pork shoulder (kasim) at PHP270 per kilogram, pork belly (liempo) at PHP300 per kilogram, and whole chicken at PHP160 per kilogram.

However, DA’s market watch on Tuesday showed that the average retail price for kasim was at PHP340, liempo at PHP360, while whole chicken at PHP200. (PNA)