Group pushes first border control facilities vs ASF

MANILA, Philippines — A private sector group wants the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to greenlight the construction of first border control facilities, noting these will be vital in curbing the spread of the African swine fever (ASF) in the country.

In a statement yesterday, the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) and member group Philippine Maize Federation Inc. (PMFI) reiterated their petition for the establishment of the facility.

“ASF as we know comes from outside of our country.  We are very strict and compliant with all protocols in our movements from within our soil. Yet we failed in the first border on what is coming into our country,” PMFI president Roger Navarro said.

Navarro said reports indicate the delay in the first border control construction is due to the delay in the approval of the location where the facility should be put up.

“We are told there are obstacles to implement the First Border Control (FBC) facility due to pending approval from the Philippine Ports Authority to give the area. So we are calling on PPA and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to cooperate and help,” Navarro said.

PCAFI president Danilo Fausto said the government seemed to have allowed the wayward spread of ASF with the delay in the FBC construction and the absence of systematic and organized hog vaccination program.

Sought for comment on the issue earlier this week, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said inspection processes are already being implemented at the first border.

“And to do a much more thorough evaluation we had proposed to the Cabinet, which was approved the construction of Agricultural Comprehensive Evaluation Area (ACEA) in the major ports to start at MICP (Manila International Container Port),” Dar told The STAR.

“We have now the budget but the land is owned by PPA and they are now processing our request to construct,” he said.

The ACEA, with its controlled temperature environment, will capacitate the quarantine officers to thoroughly inspect the contents of an identified high-risk containerized agricultural shipment.