Hog raisers slate ‘meat holiday’ over smuggling

By Eva Visperas

ROSALES, Pangasinan – Hog raisers met here Thursday and agreed to hold a  “meat holiday” in protest of the government’s inaction to problems besetting their industry, including meat smuggling.

In an interview over dzMM, Rosendo So, chairman of the Samahan ng Industriyang Agrikultura, said they would set the date of the pork holiday, which could last for five days.

So said backyard hog raisers have been urging their group to initiate a pork holiday since November, but asked them to give the government a little more time to act on their complaints.

He cited a bill that seeks to make large-scale agricultural smuggling an act of economic sabotage and imposes higher penalties for violators. The Senate and House of Representatives approved the measure before they adjourned on Feb. 3.

 So said he is wondering why President Aquino has not signed the measure after almost a month since it was approved by Congress.

He said the legislation is expected to address smuggling of agricultural commodities, including pork and chicken that reached P198.75 billion under the Aquino administration.