Cynthia Villar to DA: Don't over-import chicken

Amid reports of oversupply of chicken in the market, Senator Cynthia Villar said the Department of Agriculture (DA) must only import the shortage declared by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

“DA should not over-import. They know the shortage from the PSA data. They should import only what is needed,” Villar, chairperson of the Senate agriculture committee, said in a text message shared to reporters.

Last week, several agriculture stakeholders raised that the poultry industry has been reeling from oversupply for months, which has resulted in declining farmgate prices.

They asserted that the supply of chicken in the country is expected to meet the anticipated increase in demand for the Christmas season even without importation due to oversupply.

United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA) chairman Gregorio San Diego said that “based on the Department of Agriculture’s data, we will have a chicken surplus good for 114 days by year end.”

The UBRA chairman said a 45-day excess is the standard for the poultry industry.

Meanwhile, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) executive director Jayson Cainglet said that supply will last until the first quarter of 2024.

Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) president Edicio dela Torre echoed these statements and said that based on the capacity of local producers across the past years, ''we have enough supply for the Christmas season, even if we don't import more.”

Following these concerns, Villar said the Senate agriculture committee can launch an investigation into the supposed over importation of chicken in the country if the poultry industry will ask for it.

“If the poultry industry will write a letter to me questioning the determination of import quantity, then I will conduct the hearing,” she said.

Among the resource persons that the committee might invite are the PSA and the Bureau of Animal Industry.

“PSA for the determination of the local productions versus the local demand. BAI because they issue the import permit,” she said.

“I will also call those in the poultry industry to know their opinion,” she added.

GMA News Online sought the comment of DA spokesperson Arnel de Mesa on the matter but he has yet to respond as of posting time. 

Several senators have already slammed the Department of Agriculture (DA) over the supposed dependence on importation instead of boosting local production. —AOL, GMA Integrated News