The availability of pork supply in the market should not be a problem since there is enough for this year.
Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar made this assurance following the country’s improvement on local production as well as strengthened relationships from other nations for support.
Despite the struggles brought by the African Swine Fever (ASF) since 2019, Dar is optimistic that the Philippines would be able to recover the losses and have better results in terms of production this year.
As of Jan. 13, the active cases of ASF are reported in 45 barangays in 17 municipalities in regions 2, 4A, 4B, 8, 11, and CARAGA.
Meanwhile, based on the monitoring activities conducted by different local government units (LGUs) which were validated by the DA’s Regional Field Offices (RFOs), 553 cities and municipalities have been reported to be ASF-free for three months.
Also, there are 88 cities and municipalities with no reported cases for 3-6 months, 435 cities and municipalities for six months, and 36 municipalities have also been released from quarantine.
Measures to prevent further damage from the trans-boundary animal disease are continuously being carried out from the national down to the local level, particularly in barangays and small communities.
This year, the DA also implemented twin programs ‘Bantay ASF sa Barangay’ or ‘BaBay ASF,' as well as Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) under the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and the National Livestock Program (NLP) respectively.
According to BAI Director Reildrin Morales, more areas, particularly in Benguet and Batangas, have upgraded their zoning status with the direction going to the program Babay ASF.
Under the Babay ASF, technical assistance including disease monitoring, surveillance, and control is being extended since the initiative calls for stricter surveillance and monitoring efforts, which include setting up biosecurity measures for commercial and backyard piggeries.
As of this month, about 13,870 sentinel pigs have been distributed in areas that have zero cases.
The Philippine Statistics Authority noted an increase in hog inventory from 9.1 million to 9.8 million, in a span of one year.
Morales said that this is primarily due to the initiatives and efforts of the private sector, swine raisers’ groups, and professional veterinary associations, that continue to battle the threat of ASF with the government.
“These efforts, implemented in partnership with LGUs, have been instrumental in keeping the industry alive,” he said, stressing that the role of the local government, particularly at the barangay level, is very crucial in the success of the rehab and repop programs.
With the increase in hog population, pork supply has slowly stabilized, as production from local raisers across the country is augmented by frozen items sourced from other countries.
“These imported products are kept in cold storages and will be released to simply augment the supply gap. This is never meant to compete with the local producers,” Morales said.