DA rejects call to declare national calamity due to ASF
The Department of Agriculture (DA) rejected the call of a farmer's group for the declaration of the state of the national calamity due to the recent outbreaks in African Swine Fever (ASF) infections.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. said that enhanced border controls, emergency inoculation program, and increased indemnification measures should suffice to manage the outbreak effectively.
Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the congressional hearings on the DA’s 2025 budget, Laurel assured that the ASF situation would not disrupt pork supply or drive up prices of pork in the country.
The Department of Agriculture explained that "unlike the initial response to ASF in 2019, which involved extensive lockdowns of entire towns, the new strategy focuses on isolating only those farms that test positive for the disease."
The Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines (PPFP) is requesting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare a state of calamity to contain the spread of ASF.
AGAP Partylist Rep. Nicanor Briones, PPFP chairman, said that a nationwide state of calamity is necessary for the government to order mass vaccination of hogs to contain the outbreak.
The DA has outlined a multi-faceted approach to combat ASF resurgence which includes the "setting up of livestock checkpoints to prevent transport of diseased animals suspected to have abetted the latest spread of ASF and immediate purchase of 10,000 doses of ASF vaccines for emergency inoculation in affected areas".
"The objective is to mitigate the impact on the hog industry of the latest infection surge. A national controlled trial of the vaccine where 600,000 doses will be used in areas with active ASF cases is only expected to begin by the last quarter of the year," it stated.
Laurel noted that the DA has also increased indemnification for farmers who surrender infected pigs from a maximum of P5,000 to P12,000 per pig to encourage hog raisers to report and cull diseased animals instead of selling them.
The DA is also implementing a hog repopulation program that has helped in minimizing the impact of ASF on the swine industry’s output while a liberalized regime on the import of pork is also expected to stabilize supply and prices of meat products despite the ASF scare.
Laurel said P150 million is readily available for ASF response, including funds for purchasing vaccines and supporting the increased indemnification program.
He expressed confidence that these efforts would manage the current outbreak without declaring a state of national calamity. Robina Asido/DMS
