DOST gets hefty budget in 2022 for COVID-19 study

CEBU, Philippines —  The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will be allocated a budget of P1.3 billion next year, bulk of it will be spent for the much needed research on COVID-19 and other viral diseases in humans, animals and plants, said Cebu First District Rep. Eduardo Gullas.

The veteran legislator, who is assistant majority leader, said that P983 million of DOST’s annual budget next year will be for the outlay of the Virology Institute of the Philippines (VIP).

 It will be housed in a state-of-the-art facility at the New Clark Economic Zone in Capas, Tarlac.

“The VIP has become absolutely imperative for the country to eventually develop its own capabilities to create future vaccines against viral diseases,” Gullas said in a statement.

It can be recalled that last month, the House of Representatives passed on third and final reading the bill establishing the VIP. The measure was certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Gullas said the VIP, which will be the country’s first research and development institute, will be devoted exclusively to the study of COVID-19 and other viral diseases in humans, animals and plants.

As envisioned, Gullas said that Filipino scientists at the VIP will examine not only COVID-19 variants but all emerging viruses, their disease-producing properties, classification, cultivation and genetics.

The legislator said that the institute will analyze viruses in the wild that could possibly infect people and endanger public health in the future, as well as those in livestock that could potentially break out and threaten our food supplies.

 Gullas also cited the cases of avian influenza and African Swine Fever (ASF).

Gullas said that the public have seen how ASF destroyed the domestic pork supplies, and how it caused the prices of other food commodities to shoot up at the expense of ordinary consumers.

He added that the country’s hog producers, including backyard growers, have so far incurred over P100 billion in losses due to ASF, a highly contagious viral disease of pigs that kills them within a week from infection.

In May this year, President Duterte has issued a proclamation declaring a countrywide “state of calamity” until the end of this year due to the uncontrolled spread of ASF, which has wiped out three million hogs in 12 regions and 46 provinces

As to avian flu, Gullas said many countries around the world continue to grapple with sporadic outbreaks, forcing them to cull hundreds of millions of birds that form part of the human food chain, mostly chickens and ducks.

Avian flu spreads among birds. Most strains do not infect humans. But in rare cases, it can affect humans. — FPL (FREEMAN)