MANILA, Philippines — The Senate passed on the third and final reading a bill creating a national roadmap to bolster the local livestock, poultry and dairy (LPD) industry.
Senate Bill 2558 is known as the “Act Strengthening Livestock, Poultry, and Dairy Industry Development and Competitiveness, Rationalizing the Organization and Functions of Relevant Government Agencies, and Creating a Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.”
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Sen. Cynthia Villar served as the principal author and sponsor of the bill. She said that the LPD industry has suffered due to fragmented government support, resulting in uncoordinated policies.
“We will set a clear and strategic direction for the LPD industry, strengthen the organizational structure and institutional capacity of relevant agencies, and ensure that adequate resources are provided to support the growth and competitiveness of the industry," Villar said in her sponsorship speech.
Villar thanked her colleagues, who passed the bill during the plenary session on Monday.
The bill also seeks the creation of the LPD Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, which would have an annual appropriation not exceeding P7.8 billion, sourced from tariff collections on imported LPD products.
According to Villar, this fund was based on the model of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
The bill enumerates the different functions of the agencies responsible for bolstering the development of the LPD industry, with the Bureau of Animal Industry being the implementing agency of several key programs under the measure.
Some programs from the bill include the Breeder Availability and Genetic Improvement Program, the Pasture Crops and Animal Feeds Program, and the Native Animal Program.
The bill also includes the Animal Health Welfare and Protection Program, which aims to provide veterinary health services and health support programs for LPD. This comes amid an outbreak of African Swine Fever in Batangas.