DA wants Inspection facilities vs ASF fast-tracked

MANILA, Philippines — Concerned agencies under the Department of Agriculture (DA) have been ordered to fast-track the establishment of first-border inspection facilities nationwide to curb the spread of African swine fever (ASF).

Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban issued the order after farmers’ groups pointed to the lack of facilities in monitoring the entry of imported pork products in the country.

New ASF infections were recently recorded in Bacolod, Negros Occidental and Dauin, Negros Oriental as well as in four towns in Aklan.

“We have funds for the implementation of first-border inspection facilities. The problem is the identification of land for the location. We have identified Angat in Bulacan, Subic in Zambales, Cagayan de Oro City and Cebu. The senior undersecretary wants it to be fast-tracked and implemented as it is one of the strategies to prevent the spread of ASF,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary and deputy spokesman Rex Estoperez said over the weekend.

Estoperez said that during a public consultation last week, stakeholders and representatives from the livestock industry also raised the lack of indemnification for hog raisers affected by ASF.

Farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) executive director Jayson Cainglet earlier said a majority of hog raisers, particularly those engaged in backyard hog-raising, do not report cases of ASF due to the absence of an indemnification offer for infected pigs from the DA.

Estoperez said the DA is now working to provide indemnity, to encourage affected hog raisers to report ASF cases.

Cainglet said the first-border control and indemnification schemes are crucial in preventing the spread of the virus.

“If you will not provide indemnification, backyard raisers will not report cases of ASF. Why should they, when they can sell their pigs for at least P20,000 to P30,000. If they report it, their hogs will just be culled without compensation. That’s why nobody is reporting,” Cainglet said.

Philippine Pork Producers Federation president Nonon Tambago has warned that the continued spread of ASF would kill the local hog industry.

“It will continue to infect all provinces, considering that 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 fails to contain the virus,” Tambago said.