According to GMA News, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Salvador Salacup said on Thursday the price hike for pork, which now costs about P150 to 160 per kilo, may go up by P5 per kilo by next week.

"We had been advised that prices of pork may go up by P5 per kilo. The reason for this is prices of inputs like soybean meal and bone meal had gone up. So have prices of antibiotics," said Mr Salacup in an interview on dzBB radio.

He explained that the higher prices of these ingredients contributed to the increase in prices of feeds for hogs.

The DA has encouraged hog growers to use lower-priced substitutes for their hogs, he said.

Mr Salacup also said the rise in prices of inputs may result in a price hike for chicken as well, but he said the price is not likely to exceed P130/kilo.

He said producers are aware that if they raise prices too high, consumers will shift their tastes and turn to other food items.

Mr Salacup said the prices of other food items including fish and vegetables remain “very stable."

An earlier report on dzBB quoted hog meat vendors at a market in Manila as saying their suppliers had advised them of a price hike but did not say how much the increase would be.