Farmers’ group blames DA for unreported ASF cases

MANILA, Philippines — A majority of hog raisers, particularly  those engaged in backyard raising, do not report cases of African swine fever (ASF) due to lack of indemnication offer for infected pigs from the Department of Agriculture (DA),  a farmers’ group said yesterday.

In an interview with The STAR, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) executive director Jayson Cainglet said that the first border control and indemnification are the most crucial factors if the government wants to address the spread of ASF in the country after outbreaks were reported in Negros Oriental and Aklan.

“If you will not provide indemnification, backyard raisers will hide that their hogs are infected with ASF. Why will they report if they can sell their pigs for at least P20,000 to P30,000. If they will report it, their hogs will just be culled without compensation. Nobody is reporting,” Cainglet said.

Negros Oriental and Aklan were previously under the green-zones or areas with no cases of ASF. Aklan later declared a state of calamity amid the outbreak of ASF in the province.

“We understand the situation of the hog raisers. First, there is no support from the government causing the spread of ASF,” Cainglet added.

He said ASF-infected pork ends up in the market because of non-reporting from the hog raisers.

“Hog raisers, both commercial and backyard will not report if there is depopulation but no indemnification. They will continue to sell pork even infected (with ASF),” Cainglet said.

Philippine Pork Producers Federation president Nonon Tambago echoed this. “I believe so,” Tambago said when asked if many hog raisers chose to conceal cases of ASF in their livestock farms.

Tambago warned that ASF will continue to infect all provinces.

“It will continue to infect all provinces considering the same ASF control protocols are being employed by the lead agency. Our federation has repeatedly asked them to consider other options as the existing method does not contain the spread of ASF virus,” he said.

Cainglet also countered the statement of the DA that it is just implementing international protocols sanctioned by the World Organization for Animal Health.