By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Ensuring a stable and safe supply of food is widely considered as one of the most important steps in alleviating inflationary pressures and keeping market prices in check.
Such initiative calls for a crackdown on unregistered livestock facilities that distort the food supply chain and threaten price stability, echoing a stringent directive from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. who tasked the Department of Agriculture (D.A.) to strictly enforce the appropriate standards on food products.
Through the D.A. ‘s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), it has issued show cause orders to nine pig farms in Central Luzon for operating without the required licenses.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr. said, “As we modernize Philippine agriculture, everyone must understand that unlicensed operations will not be tolerated.”
He added, “Compliance is not optional—it is fundamental to protecting both consumers and the livelihoods of law-abiding farmers.”
These hog farms—located in Bulacan, Pampanga, and Tarlac—are tasked to explain their continued operations despite bypassing basic health, environmental, and safety regulations.
Acting BAI Director Christian Daquigan said the orders were served shortly after the midterm elections. The BAI is currently evaluating responses from some of the farms, and further enforcement actions may follow.
jpv
