CEBU – The municipal government of Barili in Cebu province has mapped out a proposal to modernize its livestock auction market as part of its master development plan in a seven-hectare property there.
Barili Mayor Teresito Mariñas said the project in the village of in Mantalongon will be funded by a loan from Land Bank of Philippines. The provincial government also pledged an initial P2.5 million financial aid to augment its budgetary requirements.
He said they will also implement loading and unloading area and pay parking system. The facility will also be provided with clean water,rest rooms and food section. There will be defined areas for small and large animals, including fowls and swine.
Also part of the master plan are bus terminals and low cost housing units for its municipal employees. The municipality allocated Php 100,000 for the crafting of master plan, which is still ongoing.
The upgrading of the facility will prevent the sale of livestock lower than its standard farmgate prices.
Farmgate price is the value of a cultivated product in agriculture or aquaculture is the net value of the product when it leaves the farm, after marketing costs have been subtracted.
The farm gate value is typically lower than the retail price consumers pay in a store as it does not include costs for shipping, handling, storage, marketing, and profit margins of the involved companies.
Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy said: “This is beneficial to the farmers because once the facility is modernized, dili na jud mata-mata ang pagpalit (the sale of animals will not be based on estimates anymore).”
“There is an ideal layout or plan for livestock auction market based on guidelines, with desired equipment and flow. So by then magamit na jud na sa mga (this will be used by the) farmers with the right price sa ilang hayop (for their animals),” she added.
Vincoy said that the Department of Trade and Industry regulates the livestock prices, but this largely depends on the supply and demand for farm animals.
In 2013, the average farmgate price for live cattle is Php 86.27 per kilo based on the reports of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.
In Barili, some high breed cattle are only sold for an estimate price of P71 per kilo – assuming that the live animal has a total weight of 350 kgs.
The Mantalongon facility in the town of Dalaguete is the biggest auction market in the province. Some its livestock farmers come from as far as the town of San Fernando and even from Santander in the southernmost tip of the province with wholesale buyers coming from Negros Oriental and Leyte provinces.
An average of 250 to 300 cattle heads are sold weekly at the site even in lean season, according to Jinky Pañares, revenue officer assigned in the facility.
The income generating facility of Mantalongon contributed to the town at least P300,000 in permit fees weekly. The figures already covered the cash proceeds from other livestock like chicken, goats, and swine.
“We are the biggest livestock market in the province. We might as well improve the infrastructures there because that is one of our leading sources of income,” Mariñas said.
Mariñas said they will showcase Mantalongon auction market as the “largest, the most modern and efficient livestock market in the entire province if not the entire Visayas.” (Xerxes Alkuino)
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