The Department of Agriculture (DA) and stakeholders from the swine industry agreed to strengthen enforcement of the maximum suggested retail prices (MSRP) for pork, with the private sector vowing to police its ranks and curb profiteering.
The renewed commitment came after a consultative meeting on April 14, 2025, following DA market inspections that revealed alarmingly low compliance, with fewer than 10 percent of sellers found observing the MSRPs.
The DA set the MSRP at P300 per kilogram for freshly slaughtered carcass, P350 for pigue (leg/ham) and kasim or pig shoulder and P380 for liempo or pork belly.
Agriculture Undersecretary for livestock Dante Palabrica cited the importance of honoring the gentleman’s agreement made in earlier talks to avoid more disruptive interventions.
He said the MSRPs are designed to balance the interests of producers, traders, retailers and consumers amid persistent inflationary pressures.
As part of long-term solutions, Palabrica also announced the rollout of a P1-billion swine repopulation program approved by Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr.
The program will distribute around 30,000 gilts to large farms, which will repay the government by providing reared pigs for distribution to backyard farmers.
Tiu Laurel called on the industry to support the government’s three-year plan to rebuild the national hog inventory to 14 million heads by 2028, up from the current estimate of 8 million.
To help stabilize pork prices in the near term, the DA’s Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) also started purchasing 500 pigs daily from large farms and delivering them directly to slaughterhouses, ensuring a steady supply and reinforcing compliance with price guidelines.