Hogs are kept inside their cages after feeding at a backyard pig pen in Paranaque City on September 16, 2019. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File.

MANILA — The African Swine Fever outbreak in parts of Batangas is not seen to result in pork supply shortage in the country, and should not trigger a price hike in pork and processed meat, according to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel.

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The Department of Agriculture chief on Monday explained that should importers see supply gaps, they can address it through importation.

 “Tuloy-tuloy pa rin naman ang importation. It’s not being controlled in any way, ang baboy. Market forces naman will dictate. Kung nakikitang may shortage ng konti, the importers will just import. Wala kaming control dyan. The law does not allow the DA to control the quantity na pwedeng import at wala,” Laurel told the media on the sidelines of DA’s budget hearing before the House Committee on Appropriations. 

“No reason to increase prices,” he added.

 The government also expects that the 10,000 doses of ASF vaccines it procured will be available next week. These will be given for free to farms affected by the virus, with a priority for those in so-called red zones.

“Ang presyo na narinig ko sa nakita ko is P450 per dose. At itong vaccine na ito will be given by the government sa mga affected areas, lalu na sa red zones, for free,” Laurel said.

 The government will need around 600,000 ASF vaccine doses for nationwide inoculation, which are expected to be rolled out in the last quarter of the year.

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 INDEMNIFICATION

As of Monday, farms in eight Batangas towns are affected by the ASF. Checkpoints have been set up to control the movement of infected hogs. The DA has advised the affected towns to declare a state of calamity.

“We have asked them to declare already so we can implement ‘yung QRF namin for indemnification para mabayaran ang mga kakatayin at makapag-procure na kami ng emergency procurement ng at least 10,000 doses of vaccine,” Laurel said.

 The government has increased the indemnification offered for affected hogs, now ranging between P4,000 and P12,000 each, to encourage raisers to surrender them.

“Sa ngayon mayroon tayong bagong policy na ‘yung indemnification, although ang budget ngayon niyan ay nasa P150 million pa lang, ‘yung mga kakataying baboy, ‘yung maliliit, ‘yung biik, nasa P4,000 ‘yan per biik. Medium-sized P8,000. At yung malalaki naman, P12,000. Hindi katulad dati na P5,000 lang,” Laurel told the media.

“’Yun nga ang reason kaya itinaas namin at ni-nationalize namin ang indemnification, para talagang katayin na lang nila, i-surrender na lang nila,” the DA chief explained.

Laurel does not see the need to declare a nationwide state of calamity due to the ASF outbreak.

“It’s localized. It is spreading a bit, but not as fast. Mas aware na kasi ‘yung mga tao ngayon, kasi nangyari na dati. Marami rin namang facilities na may biosecurity. So hindi naman ibig sabihin ‘yung buong municipality affected. It’s still farm-based pa rin,” he said.

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