San Jose de Buenavista: Consumers in this capital town are resorting to alternative foods like fish and vegetables amid the high price of pork.

According to Philippines News Agency, San Jose de Buenavista Municipal Economic Enterprise and Development Office (MEEDO) head Darcy Bungay stated that the scarcity of pork supply resulted in soaring prices at the Dalipe Trade town, ranging from PHP400 to PHP420 per kg, up from only PHP380 to PHP400 per kg last month.

‘We are still feeling the lingering effect of the African swine fever (ASF), aside from the high demand for pork due to the festivals in our neighboring provinces,’ he said in an interview. He noted that swine raisers opted to sell their produce to traders from Iloilo, Aklan, and even Cebu City at PHP230 per kg for live weight, higher than the PHP200 per kg offered by local traders.

Currently, they could hardly meet the average 26 to 30 heads they used to slaughter at the municipal slaughterhouse in a day, he added. ‘As a consequence, consumers opt to buy fish such as mackerel tuna or other species that are only being sold for PHP150 to PHP350 per kg,’ he said. Other consumers only buy vegetables such as squash, string beans, and eggplants for their viand.

In a separate interview, Antique Provincial Veterinary (ProVet) Office Public Health Division chief Dr. Marco Rafael Ardamil mentioned that hog raisers affected by African swine fever received their sentinel animal of 131 heads in December last year. ‘We hope that San Jose de Buenavista will remain negative of ASF so that additional piglets will be distributed by the Department of Agriculture to the swine raisers, and the hog industry in the municipality can recover,’ Ardamil said.