Farm groups renew call for declaration of state of calamity

Agricultural groups on Friday renewed calls for President Duterte to place the country in a state of calamity due to the African swine fever (ASF), stressing that emergency funds were needed to mitigate further spread of the hog disease and enable the local livestock industry to recover.

As of April 27, the Senate resolution urging Mr. Duterte to push through with the emergency declaration remained pending for approval. The measure was also supported by the Department of Agriculture (DA), the National Economic and Development Authority, and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Nicanor Briones, vice president of Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines, said the additional funding would enable the DA to accommodate more hog raisers who need indemnity funds, provide insurance premiums, and boost ongoing repopulation efforts.

More importantly, this would allow livestock hog raisers, both backyard and commercial, to implement more stringent biosafety protocols and bring the industry one step closer to stamping out ASF.

Due to the insufficiency of DA funds, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said members of the private sector were resorting to spending money from their own pockets to ensure that ASF would not reach their farms.

“The local industry has been crying, has been bleeding in terms of challenges. We hope that the state of calamity can be immediately issued because we are already in the second quarter of the year,” the lawmaker said.