Poultry group: Enough chicken from Christmas to January

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December 24, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The supply of chicken in the Philippines is expected to remain abundant from Christmas through January, easing concerns of shortages during the peak holiday season, according to Elias Jose Inciong, chairman of the United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA).

In a radio interview, Inciong said farm-gate prices of chicken have dropped in the past week, reflecting an abundant supply in the market.

“For chicken, the supply is more than enough. The problem is demand, or the buying capacity of consumers. The retail prices may fluctuate during the holiday season, but in terms of supply, it is ample and may even overflow into January,” he said.

Inciong noted that recent farm-gate prices in Central Luzon have fallen to around P83 to P85 per kilo, down from P100 a week earlier, while retail prices remain higher due to seasonal demand.

He emphasized that the poultry sector is not facing supply problems like in previous years, despite challenges such as adverse weather and poultry diseases.

On the issue of vaccines for poultry, Inciong stated UBRA is currently awaiting regulatory approval from the Department of Agriculture (DA), noting that technical disagreements over vaccine types remain unresolved.

“We have a pending matter with the (DA) secretary because we had a disagreement with their technical team, as they remain strict regarding the use of vaccines in the industry. We believe the regulation is overly cautious because, first of all, the issue is based on the belief that, according to their technical review, the vaccines are live – which are the ones that actually mutate,” he said.

“Our veterinarians explained that the vaccines that will be made available are killed vaccines, which do not mutate. We do not understand why they are being so strict,” Inciong explained.

Regarding imports, he clarified that there is no current ban on imported chicken unless the source country reports animal disease outbreaks.

Inciong highlighted that local production is sufficient to meet domestic needs, contrasting the poultry sector with other commodities such as rice, which still requires importation.

Data from the National Price Coordinating Council show that the country has a supply of chicken sufficient for 239 days, far exceeding the supply of rice at 79 days.