(MANILA BULLETIN)



The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) should seriously consider carrying out a a nationwide immunization drive on hogs to contain the deadly African Swine Fever (ASF). Thus, said Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte amid fears that the latest ASF surge in the country could decimate the domestic hog population and drive up pork prices. “An immunization drive to prevent the reported surge in ASF outbreak from getting worse has now become doable, following Vietnam’s discovery last year and subsequent use of the world’s first vaccine to beat this deadly disease," said Villafuerte, majority leader of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA). He said local agribusiness companies have already been doing field trials in the country to check the efficacy of this new drug in the Philippine setting. Villafuerte said that once this new veterinary drug is proven at the end of local field trials to be as effective as an anti-ASF drug, “The BAI should weigh the feasibility of implementing  a nationwide anti-ASF drive to help especially the backyard raisers to save their animals—and stave off another undue spike in pork prices that could further drive up the already elevated inflation.” “Another rocketing of pork prices is the last thing that the government, the hog industry and Filipino consumers need at this point when the President’s economic team has been grappling with the stubbornly elevated inflation, which economists and analysts fear could undermine our economy’s strong rebound from the pandemic and the country’s future high-growth prospects,” he added. The BAI--an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA)--had revealed in a March 27 report that all of the country’s regions, with the sole exception of Metro Manila, have been infected with ASF. BAI data showed that 54 provinces in the country’s 16 regions have reported ASF outbreaks, the latest of which is the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). DA Assistant Secretary and Spokesman Rex Estoperez had shared to the media the National Livestock Program's (NLP) warning of a possible shortage of over 46,000 metric tons (MT) of pork in June, as against the projected demand of 145,849 MT. Villafuerte said that to  the government’s credit, the DA and BAI have carried out initiatives  such as hog repopulation and  the Bantay ASF sa Barangay (BaBay ASF). However, he said that he had been informed that many industry players continue to hesitate to reinvest 100 percent in their businesses because of the persisting threat of an outbreak. “These swine industry players who suffered heavy financial losses after ASF resurfaced in 2019 apparently fear losing more money in the future in the absence of any assurance that ASF outbreaks will be a thing of the past,” he said. “And it seems that the only way to boost their confidence in reinvesting 100 percent in the industry is if the government can shield their pig stocks from future ASF outbreaks by way of an immunization program.”