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.<\/p>\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cOur livelihood depends on pigs. Our families eat and our children go to school because of decent jobs provided by hog raising,\u201d Javellana said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hurting from the negative association of our industry to the pork barrel fund mess, which has absolutely nothing to do with the swine industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
In the Aug. 26 Million People March at Manila\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n
The lawmakers\u2019 misuse of the PDAF was supposedly with the connivance of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) controlled by detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.<\/p>\n\n
Source of protein <\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t eat pork, join the struggle\u201d and \u201cOink-oink\u201d were the predominant shouts of demonstrators during the biggest protest action under the Aquino administration.<\/p>\n\n Call the lawmakers \u201ccrocodiles\u201d but not pigs, which are the biggest source of protein for\u00a0 Filipinos, next to chicken, according to hog raisers.<\/p>\n\n \u201cWe 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 \u2018Makibaka, huwag magbaboy,\u2019\u201d Javellana said.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe hog raisers are truly part of the campaign against the PDAF.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Unfairly stigmatized<\/strong><\/p>\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe swine industry (magbababoy) is second only to the rice industry in terms of employment generation for Filipinos,\u201d Javellana stressed. \u201cIt contributes positively to national development, food security and rural livelihood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n How it originated<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Javellana said hog raisers decided to join the pork barrel protests because lawmakers and authorities had turned a blind eye to the \u201crampant and unbridled smuggling of meat and other agricultural products like rice, corn, onions, fruits and vegetables\u201d that\u00a0 undercut local farmers\u2019 prices.<\/p>\n\n The term \u201cpork barrel\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n The term was later used to refer to government appropriation for local projects by legislators, a practice seen as a way of buying voters\u2019 favor.\u2014With Inquirer Research<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n Originally posted: 9:06 pm | Sunday, September 8th, 2013<\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":899,"featured_media":473337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[481,36,37],"tags":[195,61461,107033,87381,767,4341],"byline":[782],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n