The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday vowed to resolve by Friday issues raised against the voluntary vaccination of hogs against the African swine fever (ASF) whose legality has been questioned before the Ombudsman.
DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said that as a consequence of the issues, some personnel of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) opted out of the program and forced the agency to deploy others who are “willing to do the job.”
“We will try our best (to resolve the issues) this Friday,” said Tiu Laurel at the sidelines of an agricultural convention in Pasay City on Wednesday.
The DA in July secured for the AVAC ASF vaccine from Vietnam a certificate of product registration from the Food and Drug Administration in keeping with the voluntary vaccination of hogs in commercial, semi-commercial, as well as clustered backyard farms under strict government supervision at no cost to their owners.
Tiu Laurel said the DA initially procured 10,000 doses of the vaccine and a plan to procure up 150,000 more doses from Vietnam.
The DA budgeted P350 million for the ASF vaccine program P300 million of which will be used to buy 600,000 doses and the balance of P50 million for syringes, protective equipment and other miscellaneous items.
In a separate development, the BAI, in collaboration with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and local government units, intensified the inspection and monitoring of animal shipments in the National Capital Region (NCR).
As of Wednesday, 1,963 shipments of live animals and meat products have been inspected at various checkpoints across the National Capital Region.
One hundred thirteen of the shipments were returned to their points of origin for non-compliance with animal health regulations while 13 were subjected to further testing to ensure these were free from diseases.
Ten shipments were also condemned due to serious health issues while 1,827 shipments were eventually cleared and released after meeting the necessary requirements.
Active ASF cases as of 21 August this year have been identified in 15 regions, 32 provinces, 115 municipalities and 458 barangays, the BAI said.
