Agriculture Secretary William Dar should be fire or voluntarily resign due to his negligence which resulted in the skyrocketing price of pork, according to the organization of hog raisers.
According to Nicanor Briones of the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines, the Department of Agriculture (DA) did not have a clear consultation with their group so there was a lot of imports even though they had a supply of pork.
Briones added that they have always asked the DA for help to reduce pork imports, but he did not listen to them.
He even said that chicken meat had an oversupply since 2020.
Briones believes that due to the continuous importation, the only ones making money are meat importers and meat processors.
Apart from African swine fever (ASF), he said it is clear that the problem of their sector is the excessive importation of pigs and the unavoidable technical smuggling.
Because of this, he said Dar should be fired from the DA.
“Dapat ay mag-isip-isip siya, hindi niya (Dar) kaya ang trabaho. Hindi niya tinatanong ang mga stakeholders, para siyang tumitingala at ang solusyon ay without consultation, inirerekomenda niya kay Presidente. Kung hindi niya kaya, mag-resign na siya. Or tanggalin na siya ni Presidente,” said Briones.
DA chief Dar urged to resign due to increasing pork prices
Dar has not yet commented on the group’s statement.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte the implementation of pork price freeze in the market, following the increase in its price due to African swine fever (ASF).
According to DA Spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes, DA Secretary William Dar will appeal to President Duterte to implement the P270 to P300 price freeze.
“’ Yun na nga ang inirerekomenda ng DA kay Presidente, tapos na po ‘yung consultation, suporta na lang ng ating stakeholders ang tinitingnan,” according to DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes, in a radio interview. “Ang sina-suggest ni Secretary ay P270 to P300 ang price freeze natin sa baboy.”
Reyes said the DA has also allocated an initial P400 million for the repopulation of pigs in areas where there has been an ASF outbreak.