The Department of Agriculture (DA) has started an investigation on a possible deliberate effort by traders to withhold the release of pork products in the market, thereby causing prices to rise.

As of October 21, prices of kasim (pork ham) reached P320/kg and liempo (pork belly) at P360/kg in most Metro Manila public markets, P20 to P40 more compared to P300 and P320, respectively, two weeks ago.

Based on data, there is a significant inventory of both locally-slaughtered and imported pork in cold storage facilities accredited by the Department of Agriculture’s National Meat Inspection Service (DA-NMIS).

As of the third week of October the inventory of frozen pork, both local and imported, in DA-NMIS-accredited cold storages nationwide was bigger by 55 percent than the same period in 2019, at 38,216 metric tons.

Likewise, the inventory of frozen local and imported dressed chicken and chicken parts was 260 percent more, at 83,266 metric tons versus 22,953 metric tons in 2019.

“This slow drawdown or small demand for frozen meat indicates that most Filipinos prefer “fresh” or newly-slaughtered meat, or traders are holding off the supply to artificially jack up prices,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar.

“Also, we should convince our countrymen to consume more chicken in lieu of pork as a source of meat protein,” Dar added.

He said the DA will not hesitate to file cartel charges if hog growers and traders were found engaging in anti-competitive practice and restricting the supply of pork products, resulting in higher prices at retail markets.

“We’re looking into reasons why there’s a very slow withdrawal of frozen pork products despite the availability of supply, and demand has started to pick up as the government opens up the economy,” Dar said.

Dar said they are also looking at whether the high prices were a result of inefficiencies in the supply chain.

He said the DA will ask the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to also conduct a parallel probe for possible violations of the Philippine Competition Act by traders that may be manipulating pork supply.

The DA has an existing agreement with the PCC on information exchange, investigation, and enforcement, as well as action plans through shared resources to limit and put a stop to anti-competitive practices. DA StratComms