It is not only the senators and the congressmen who are hurting from the pork barrel controversy. The hog raisers and the meat processors are also feeling the pinch.
Daniel Javellana Jr., chair of the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI), said on Sunday the reputation of hog raisers, as well as the sales of their products, had been hurt by the unfortunate association of their industry with the pork barrel scandal.
鈥淥ur livelihood depends on pigs. Our families eat and our children go to school because of decent jobs provided by hog raising,鈥� Javellana said in a phone interview.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hurting from the negative association of our industry to the pork barrel fund mess, which has absolutely nothing to do with the swine industry.鈥�
In the Aug. 26 Million People March at Manila鈥檚 Rizal Park, several restaurants and food vendors refused to sell pork in protest against lawmakers who allegedly used their allocations from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to line their pockets.
The lawmakers鈥� misuse of the PDAF was supposedly with the connivance of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) controlled by detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
Source of protein
鈥淒on鈥檛 eat pork, join the struggle鈥� and 鈥淥ink-oink鈥� were the predominant shouts of demonstrators during the biggest protest action under the Aquino administration.
Call the lawmakers 鈥渃rocodiles鈥� but not pigs, which are the biggest source of protein for聽 Filipinos, next to chicken, according to hog raisers.
鈥淲e were also at Luneta to join fellow Filipinos in protesting and expressing outrage against the PDAF but we were hurting inside with the collective chant of 鈥楳akibaka, huwag magbaboy,鈥欌�� Javellana said.
鈥淭he hog raisers are truly part of the campaign against the PDAF.鈥�
Unfairly stigmatized
As a result of unfair association with the pork barrel scam, Javellana said 7 million hog raisers, feed makers, slaughterhouse employees and market vendors were being unfairly stigmatized for having swine as their main source of livelihood.
鈥淭he swine industry (magbababoy) is second only to the rice industry in terms of employment generation for Filipinos,鈥� Javellana stressed. 鈥淚t contributes positively to national development, food security and rural livelihood.鈥�
How it originated
Javellana said hog raisers decided to join the pork barrel protests because lawmakers and authorities had turned a blind eye to the 鈥渞ampant and unbridled smuggling of meat and other agricultural products like rice, corn, onions, fruits and vegetables鈥� that聽 undercut local farmers鈥� prices.
The term 鈥減ork barrel鈥� originated from the early practice in the United States of preserving pork and putting it in a barrel filled with brine. During the pre-Civil War days in the South, barrels of salted pork were given to slaves on holidays, resulting in a mad scramble for food.
The term was later used to refer to government appropriation for local projects by legislators, a practice seen as a way of buying voters鈥� favor.鈥�With Inquirer Research
Originally posted: 9:06 pm | Sunday, September 8th, 2013