Agriculture groups welcomed the plan of the House of Representatives to channel P1.5 billion to vaccinate hogs but said the amount is not enough to completely eradicate cases of the African swine fever (ASF) in the country.
The Committee on Appropriations tasked to remove confidential funds will channel P1.5 billion for vaccine initiatives to combat the ASF.
“The P1.5 billion definitely isn’t enough but it could be used for pump priming as we wait for the vaccine from Vietnam,” said Danilo Fausto, Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. president, in a radio interview yesterday.
Fausto said the government should make the vaccines available to backyard raisers.
Nick Briones, representative of AGAP party list and chairman of the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines, said administration of vaccines is the best solution against ASF but it is yet to be tested on local sows and breeders that produce pigs.
Briones said the available ASF vaccines from Vietnam have only been tested on starters but not on fatteners sold in markets.
Briones expressed hope the the next generation of the vaccines will be tested on fatteners and on “challenged” hogs or vaccinated hogs exposed to the virus to test the efficacy of the vaccine.
Deogracias Victor Savellano, undersecretary for livestock of the Department of Agriculture, said in a forum hosted by Stratbase ADR Institute yesterday the agency is ramping up bio-security measures while waiting for the issuance of regulations on ASF vaccines.
Before ASF hit in 2019, the pig population of the country was estimated at around 13 million heads but this has since gone down to around 10 million, with imported pork filling the gap.
Based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, pork self-sufficiency ratio in 2022 reached 69.6 percent.
Earlier this month, the National Sectoral Committee on Poultry and Livestock passed a resolution recommending that the Food and Drug Administration and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) issue safety reports on the negative effects of the vaccines on hogs. The reports will facilitate the importation of 300,000 doses of ASF vaccine and its dissemination by
BAI data showed as of September 30, 10 regions, 18 provinces, 44 municipalities and 97 barangays have active ASF cases.
