The Department of Agriculture (DA) has officially recommended to Malacaῆang the declaration of State of Emergency due to the African Swine Fever (ASF).
DA chief William Dar said as early as March 12 that they have been finalizing the proposal based on the suggestion of the Senate amid the massive impact of the disease on the hog industry.
Prior to the declaration, Dar said surveillance measures and repopulation are being conducted to respond to the issue which has severely dwindled the supply of pork.
“The budget that we have this year, for example in the livestock and poultry and program, we only have ₱1.5B. For the repopulation program this year, we are using a level of about ₱1.1B,” Dar revealed.
“₱400M will be used to establish breeder farms para mas marami tayong fatteners na maibigay later (so we could later give more fatteners). Another ₱200M will be used to repopulate ‘yong (the) ASF-affected areas with sentinel approach,” he added.
The DA recently reported that a total of ₱15 billion has been secured from the Land Bank of The Philippines and ₱12 billion from the Development Bank of the Philippines as loan program to “reinvigorate the hog industry.” – AG/PTV News Online
