DA on encouraging consumers to explore pork alternatives
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MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is encouraging consumers to explore alternatives to pork such as chicken, fish, and beef as the government is looking for ways to stabilize pork supply and prices.
The DA made this statement on Thursday following its announcement of scrapping the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for pork upon the request of industry players.
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“We urge our consumers to buy other protein sources instead, or frozen pork that are a lot cheaper than freshly slaughtered hogs. We will soon implement a new solution to lower prices,” DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said in a statement.
Laurel Tiu also said that the shortage of swine production due to the African Swine Fever (ASF) and stronger consumer demand for pork “made it increasingly difficult to keep pork prices down.”
The agency previously set the MSRP of P380 per kilo for liempo, P350 per kilo for pique (leg/ham) and kasim, and P300 for sabit-ulo (fresh carcass).
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The DA also pointed out that since the first outbreak of ASF in 2019, the national hog inventory declined from 13 million pigs to 8 million.
The Bureau of Animal Industry recorded a total of 344.59 million kilograms of meat imports for the first three months of 2025, a 25.9% increase from the 273.64 million kg from the same period last year.
The DA noted that it is waiting for the approval of the Food and Drug Administration for its clearance of the commercial rollout of ASF vaccine before it implements an “aggressive repopulation plan” to revert hog production to pre-ASF levels by 2028.
