According to All Headline News, a party-list representative estimates retail prices of the two types of meat typically bought by Filipino households may go up by $0.10 a kilo (5 pesos) by April or May.

Representative Nicanor Briones of the Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines explained the upcoming price increase to cost of corn feed used in chicken and poultry farms to a $0.07 (3.50 pesos) per kilo hike in corn feed prices.

Because of the El Nino phenomenon about $239 million (11 billion pesos) worth of agricultural crops have been lost in 14 provinces, the bulk of the losses are rice and corn crops. Representative Briones forecasts the loss of the agricultural sector will go up to $434 million (20 billion pesos) until the dry spell ends.

In Bacolod City, Agriculture Regional Director Larry Nacionales warns Negros Occidental $137 million (6.3 billion pesos) poultry industry is at risk because of El Nino. The province has a stock of four million native chickens and fighting cocks and produces 1.5 million broilers monthly - which are all at risk because of the dry spell.

So far $66,050 (3.04 million pesos) worth of losses in hog, livestock and poultry have been recorded in 21 towns and cities of Negros Occidental, Mr Nacionales said. To help the animal farmers, the provincial agricultural office distributed vaccines and drugs to the hog and poultry raisers.