Protecting the P200-B hog-raising industry

POrk is popular in the Philippines, and this is evident in the many Filipino dishes that use it as ingredient. Lechon, for example, is usually the star of Filipino parties. Compared to beef, pork is a more affordable source of protein. The appetite of Filipinos for pork and other hog products has sustained the hog-raising industry that is now worth P200 billion. Of the total swine population of 12.7 million heads as of January 1, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that backyard farms accounted for 63.55 percent. PSA data on swine population showed that many local hog raisers are small-scale farmers. This is why the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agency, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), have appealed again and again to traders and Filipino consumers to help prevent the entry of African swine fever in the country. ASF is a dreaded hog disease that has ravaged farms in China and continues to threaten the livestock industry of some European countries. According to the World Organisation for Animal Health or the OIE, ASF is a severe viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs and can be spread by live or dead pigs and pork products. The OIE said transmission can also occur via contaminated feed and fomites (nonliving objects) such as shoes, clothes, vehicles, knives and equipment due to the high environmental resistance of the ASF virus. Unfortunately, there is no approved vaccine against ASF, and affected hogs or wild boars are usually culled to prevent the spread of the virus. ASF can cause serious production and economic losses as seen in the experience of China, where the virus has ravaged hog farms and forced the government to cull thousands of affected animals. As of February 14, the OIE said 94 percent of the 6,024 animals killed were in Asia. China accounted for 4,776 losses, while Mongolia lost 896 animals. Europe also notified the OIE that it also incurred losses. Just recently, Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture confirmed that a sample of pork product from Vietnam tested positive for ASF. This prompted the Philippine government to ban Vietnamese pork and pork products. (See, “DA to ban pork, pork products from Vietnam over African Swine Fever,” in the BusinessMirror online February 18, 2019). The discovery of ASF in a pork product from Vietnam has caused government agencies, such as the BAI and the DA, to again seek the cooperation of consumers and traders to ensure that the virus will not enter the Philippines. The government has earlier rolled out precautionary measures, such as the installation of footbaths and strict monitoring of all shipments entering the country. The DA has also implemented blanket import bans on pork from countries struck by the deadly ASF. These measures are all aimed at protecting an industry that could be brought to its knees by the ASF. The majority of hog farmers are backyard raisers so an outbreak would be catastrophic. For sure, backyard raisers would not be able to immediately recover from an ASF outbreak. And while the government has a contingency plan in place to prevent the possible spread of ASF, it remains to be seen whether it has enough funds to bankroll the necessary interventions to help hog raisers in the event of an outbreak. For now, all the government can do is to step up its information campaign and intensify efforts to protect the country’s borders. We join the government in appealing to tourists and consumers to refrain from bringing in pork and meat products from ASF-affected countries. Hog raisers must also inform the government immediately if they observe anything out of the ordinary in their farms. A concerted effort is needed to ensure that a devastating animal disease such as the ASF will not bring the Philippine hog industry to its knees.