Tarlac City, Tarlac–The province of Tarlac is still ASF free. But while that in itself is a feat, hog growers are hurting as they are losing money each day.
Sherwin Chua, a veterinarian and a member of the Tarlac Association ofSwine and Poultry Raisers, Inc., in an interview, stressed that despite the province’s ASF-free status, they are selling at a loss, contrary to people’s impression that Tarlac hog growers are making money because the province is still ASF free and thus can sell or market at any part of the country. Chua laments that the decision of some LGUs to close their borders even for pass-through (or transit) of their trucks at the national highway is unjust and has created a trade imbalance. Particularly, he said Tarlac growers cannot reach their second major market which is Baguio and other areas in the north because Pangasinanclosed the entire province from entry and even transit of live and slaughtered hogs even from ASF-free areas. He said that while they can pass through TPLEX, they are not allowed to traverse the 10-Km Pangasinan part of MacArthur Highway in order to reach La Union, Benguet, and most especially Baguio City. In effect, Pangasinan was able to stop the free trade and made itself the only major source of pork for the north (La Union, Benguet, Baguio, and Ilocos).
This is same situation with Bataan, which closed its borders, in effect preventing Tarlac growers to reach Olongapo and SBMA that do not have hogs industry to speak of.
But Baguio is a major concern because it has very few backyard growers and no commercial growers. It has to be noted that Baguio gets most of its pork requirements from Pangasinan and Tarlac, but since Pangasinan closed itself from transit of hogs, it has now become the only major pork source of Baguio. Sources said that prices of pork in Baguio has been skyrocketing because of lack of supply. Chua said that this act of the Pangasinan LGU has affected not only the Tarlac growers but Baguio consumers as well. Other industry players describe such as as a “selfish” move in the guise of protecting its hog industry.
When asked if the Tarlac hog growers are getting enough support from the government, Chua said that the DILGhas given directives to the LGUS to allow transit of hogs from ASF-free areas, but such has allegedly been ignored.
So what is being done now for Tarlac to remain ASF-free?
Chua said for the province to remain ASF-free, it takes very close coordination and cooperation between government and private groups and individuals. He said the very first thing being done now is serious and honest to goodness checkpoints, in which the Tarlac Association of Swine and Poultry Raisers, Inc. has been actively supporting and funding. He added currently, the province has 24 checkpoints manned by Department of Agriculture (DA) and private volunteers. Their group, he said, is spending Php500K monthly to sustain these checkpoints.
Next is the cooperation and participation of the backyard growers. Swill feeding should be stopped, and proper and strict biosecurity should be observed. The public should also participate by cooking their pork at 70 ⁰C for 30 minutes.
Economic implications
But what is really for the public, for the consumers, for the non-hog farmers? Why should they care? Chua further explained that everyone is affected by this ASF crisis. While the major blow is with hog growers and backyard raisers, the long term effect goes all the way down to the rice, and corn farmers, because these are major raw materials for feeds. Sale of veterinary products will also suffer.If the piggeries cannot sell, they would soon reduce their capacity of might even close down in which feeds manufacturing would also slow down, and the farmers could no longer sell their corn and darak among others.
Thus, Chua and the rest of the industry players are seeking the help and support of everyone to keep TarlacASF-free for the sake of the whole province.
Tarlac is the third swine producer in Luzon next to Batangas and Bulacan, having a capacity of 700,000. But Tarlac has the most number of commercial growers (90%) with only 10% backyard raisers. This, Chua said is also contributory to the province’s ASF-free status to date.
And where did the 180-M monthly loss come from? As it is now, Tarlac growers are selling at a loss of Php 2,000 to Php 3,000 per head (some even lower) just to dispose off their inventory. Chua said if only Tarlaquenos go back to eating pork (well, while it is cheap), it will be a very big help for the industry and for the local and national economy as well./BDF