The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) in Negros Oriental is appealing to hog suppliers to sell their animals in capital Dumaguete City, to bring down the prices of pork, an official said yesterday.

Jaymar Vilos, PVO information officer-designate, said pork in Dumaguete is being sold at P400 or more for one kilogram for lean meat, which is higher than the P320 to P380 per kilo in other areas.

“Hog suppliers, such as in the northern towns of Negros Oriental, prefer to sell their animals to nearby Cebu City, where the buying price for live pigs [is] higher,” Vilos said in an interview.

With this, traders here are forced to buy the hogs at a competitive price offered by their Cebu counterparts, resulting in higher prices of pork, he added.

Prices of lechon (roasted whole pig) also went up due to the competitive prices of hogs in the market.

Vilos pointed out that the PVO does not have regulatory powers over the hog industry, which means the suppliers are free to sell their animals elsewhere.

He added that they are recommending that the Provincial Price Monitoring Council be activated to look into the problem. (PNA)