Backyard hog raisers in Madridejos, Bantayan Island, asked Gov. Pamela Baricuatro to establish a baseline buying price after traders lowered live hog farmgate prices to P120 per kilo.
Municipal agriculture designate Renaldo Santillan reported that farmgate prices dropped from P295 per kilo last year to P120 in August 2026, creating doubts alongside retail prices exceeding P300.
Gov. Baricuatro directed the provincial price monitoring council to investigate live hog and pork prices, while Santillan urged raisers to seek a municipal resolution supporting the baseline price.
BACKYARD hog raisers in Madridejos, Bantayan Island, are asking the Cebu Provincial Government to set a baseline buying price for live hogs after traders buying for Cebu City markets lowered their farmgate price to P120 per kilo.
Renaldo Santillan, the municipal agriculture designate of Madridejos, raised the concern during a meeting at the Capitol in Cebu City on Tuesday, Oct. 20, echoing raisers’ calls for help in coping with falling prices and production costs. He asked Gov. Pamela Baricuatro to establish a baseline price for hogs bought from local raisers.
Santillan said the P120-per-kilo price has become a major worry for backyard farmers, who still have to pay for feed, labor, electricity and water.
A baseline price is the standard starting price of a product before any add-ons or discounts, while a farmgate price is the net price a farmer receives for produce at the farm, before marketing, transport or other middleman costs are added.
Falling prices
The P120-per-kilo farmgate price began around August 2026, according to Santillan. It is the price offered by traders from the city who buy live hogs from backyard raisers in Madridejos.
Prices had slid from as high as P295 per kilo last year to P150 before dropping to P120, he said. A buying price of around P280 per kilo would help farmers recover their expenses, although actual costs may vary among raisers.
The lower prices have hit backyard raisers hard because many depend on hog raising to supplement their income. Some corn farmers in Madridejos also raise hogs as an alternative livelihood, Santillan said.
He said prolonged losses could discourage farmers from continuing, and members of the town’s hog raisers’ association have also voiced concern about their shrinking earnings.
Farmgate and retail
Santillan distinguished the farmgate price paid by traders buying live hogs for markets outside Madridejos from the price of pork sold locally. Hogs sold through the town’s slaughterhouse are slaughtered first and fetch about P170 per kilo, he said, while pork in the local market costs more than P300 per kilo.
The prices refer to different stages of the supply chain and cannot be compared directly without accounting for slaughtering, processing, transport and other expenses.
Still, Santillan said the gap has added to farmers’ doubts about whether they were being paid enough for their animals.
Price monitoring
During the meeting, a private-sector representative told Santillan that local government units can monitor prices through their price monitoring councils.
Baricuatro asked the provincial price monitoring council to look into live hog and pork prices.
Last March, the Provincial Government had strengthened its price monitoring system, with at least 40 municipalities tracking the prices of basic goods, according to Baricuatro.
Twenty-five local government units have committed to reviving their Local Price Coordinating Councils, which monitor prices and address unreasonable increases. Municipalities must submit weekly price reports.
Next step
Santillan called on local hog raisers to work together and seek the municipal government’s support for a resolution asking the Provincial Government to consider a baseline buying price. / CDF