President Rodrigo R. Duterte approved several policies to strengthen the government’s response against the effect of the African Swine Fever (ASF) in the Philippines.
According to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, President Duterte gave a thumbs up for the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) recommendations on the matter Wednesday night.
Among the policies are concentrating on the adjustment of the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) of the country’s pork products, and the creation of a task group against smugglers and hoarders of agricultural products.
“The DA has recommended studying that the MAV be expanded just enough to cover the projected shortfall for the year. This recommendation, as well as the recommendation to create a subtask group on economic intelligence to go after smugglers, profiteers and hoarders of agricultural products were approved by the President.”
The Chief Executive sees the effect of the ASF on pigs as similar to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and therefore there is a need for government to closely monitor the issue. – Report from Mela Lesmoras
