DA working to have pork retailers comply with MSRP

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday said it is considering measures including having pork retailers display product details such as their suppliers, as the majority are still not complying with the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) set by the agency last month.

According to DA spokesperson Arnel de Mesa, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. wants retailers to display the farms that supply them with pork, aside from the certificate from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) that consumers see regarding the slaughter, to determine which suppliers are still selling at higher rates.

This comes as De Mesa said that there is only 39% compliance with the MSRP, which has already seen a gradual increase since its March 10 implementation: P300 per kilo for fresh carcass or “sabit ulo,” P350 per kilo for kasim and pigue, and P380 per kilo for liempo.

Citing price monitoring efforts of the DA, de Mesa said several retailers still have prices above the MSRP, as in the case of those in markets such as in Pritil Market, Trabajo Market, and Cartimar Market.

Latest available data from the DA’s price monitoring on its website shows that prices of kasim and pigue ranged from P340.00 to P400.00 per kilo, and liempo from P350.00 to P470.00 per kilo in Metro Manila markets as of Monday, March 31, 2025.

“[The Secretary said that he] was very disappointed with what happened coming from the agreements among the stakeholders and with the department,” De Mesa said in a briefing on Wednesday.

Retailers have since admitted difficulties in complying with the MSRP, as they said they cannot sell other pork cuts, forcing them to offset losses through kasim and liempo sales. They also cited expenses for biosecurity amid threats of illness such as the African swine flu.

“‘Yung sa baboy, parang he felt na madali ‘yung naging mga nagkasunduan, so medyo kinabahan siya dahil naging madali ‘yung agreement, baka magkaroon ng problema ang that’s happened,” De Mesa said.

“So he shared na kapag madali, ‘pag minsan may problema, so ngayon, dahil may ganitong issue, talagang siyempre kailangan din gumawa ng paraan para masolusyonan,” he added.

(For pork, he felt that the agreement was easy, so he was slightly nervous that there would be a problem, and that’s happened. So he shared that if it is easy, sometimes there are problems so now, because of this issue, we really need to make ways to address this.) — BM, GMA Integrated News