Duterte orders ‘urgent’ compliance of ASF plan
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered all government agencies and local government units ( LGUs) to implement and comply with the Department of Agriculture’s ( DA) zoning plan to contain and eradicate the African swine fever ( ASF).
Duterte, through Administrative Order (AO) 22, ordered the strict implementation of the DA’s Administrative Circular 12 or the “National Zoning and Movement Plan for African Swine Fever.”
“There is an urgent need to ensure consistent implementation and compliance with DA Administrative Circular 12 to more effectively control the ASF virus toward its complete eradication,” Duterte said in his order.
“The ASF is estimated to have affected more than 20 million pigs in Asia since 2018 and has caused serious economic and production losses in affected countries,” he added.
Under the Agriculture department’s zoning plan, the President said the agency classified the country into various zones with respective movement protocols to regulate the movement of pork and its products around the country.
“The African swine fever, despite having no known effect to humans, is a severe and highly contagious viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs, with a case- fatality rate approaching 100 percent, caused by a resistant virus with no developed cure to date,” he added.
Duterte then ordered the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to monitor compliance.
“The local government units, shall regulate, among others, meat inspection, meat transport and post-abattoir control, [in] accordance with the national policies, procedures, guidelines, rules and regulations, and quality and safety standards as promulgated by the DA secretary,” the President said.
“The DA, DTI and DILG are hereby directed to monitor compliance with this order and ensure its strict observance by all concerned government agencies, offices, instrumentalities, as well as local government units,” he added.
AO 22, which was released by Malacañang only on Friday, takes effect immediately.
The President’s order came after the provincial government of Davao Occidental declared a state of calamity following the ASF outbreak in its two towns.
The Agriculture department is currently monitoring the seven
(villages) in the adjacent town of Malita with reported ASF cases — Bito, Kidalapong, Tubalan, Felis, Mana, Talogoy and New Argao.
It is also set to investigate allegations that some unscrupulous traders are mislabeling imported feed meal to circumvent the import ban on ASF- hit countries.
The local hog industry is losing about P900 million per month due to the virus, according to the DA.
The outbreak in Davao Occidental was the first case of ASF in Mindanao, six months after an outbreak was declared in Luzon.
ASF, a fatal animal disease among hogs, was first reported in seven areas in Luzon — Bulacan, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon City and Rizal.