MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary William Dar deplored yesterday the apparent late reporting of African swine fever (ASF), resulting in the deaths of hundreds of pigs and affecting the local hog industry.
“As early as May, they said there have been observations (of ASF cases), but I don’t know whether they just elevated the preventive and quarantine measures,” Dar said.
“They did not even report in early July that there have been observations. I knew there were observations that there is ASF in the country. I just don’t see the documents by the DA,” he added.
While the DA did not report any ASF case in May, there have been incidents of seizure of imported pork and processed meat products from banned countries.
It was also in May when an overseas Filipino worker from Hong Kong returned home with 32 cans of meat products that were seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Following Dar’s statements, his predecessor Mindanao Development Authority chair Emmanuel Piñol fired back and expressed disappointment over the accusation made by the current DA chief.
“I could not believe that the touted agriculture expert would go to the extent of engaging in a blame game to rationalize the apparent difficulty he encounters in addressing a crisis situation,” Piñol said.
“I do not know Sec. Dar’s management style but I never embarrass my fellow workers in public. I am still making that same commitment today even if he has offended me with his irresponsible accusations and childish actuations of looking for people to blame in the face of crisis,” he added.
Piñol clarified that the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) had not recorded or reported to the World Animal Health Organization any incidence of ASF outbreak in May, June or July in the country.
He said that such claim of ASF in May is a statement that reeks of an utter lack of knowledge of the characteristic of the virus.
“Experts say that the incubation period of the ASF virus is between four to 19 days and it could decimate a hog population in 48 to 72 hours. This means that if indeed the ASF was already present in the country in May, by August when Sec. Dar took over the DA, it should have already wiped out the hog population among backyard farmers in Central Luzon,” Piñol said.
He also defended the quarantine teams that he claimed worked round the clock at the country’s airports and seaports to intercept the entry of pork products suspected to be contaminated with ASF.
“As a touted agriculture expert, Sec. Dar should have prepared for the problems he expected to encounter before he assumed office following my resignation as DA secretary on June 26,” Piñol said.
“A good crisis manager should have already prepared a plan of action to handle the expected challenges but Sec. Dar was more concerned with identifying ‘Piñol’s people’ and dressing down officials in public,” he added.
For its part, the Samahang Industriya sa Agrikultura (SINAG) maintained that the abnormal mortality of pigs around ground zero had been reported as early as July, and that quarantine protocols and preventive measures should have been put in place since that time.
SINAG has called on the Senate committee on agriculture and food to conduct an investigation on the matter.
“We want to validate these reports and if these officials are found liable, we will waste no time in charging them for abdicating their duty in protecting the hog industry and our local agriculture in general,” SINAG chair Rosendo So said.
“This is economic sabotage for the P416-billion hog sector and a host of allied industries that rely on it,” he added.
The DA had just reported another case of ASF in a barangay in Antipolo, bringing to 12 the total number of sites that tested positive for ASF infestation.
It was the second area in Antipolo and the 12th nationwide to test positive for ASF.
The other barangays are San Isidro, San Jose, Macabud, Geronimo, San Rafael and Mascap in Rodriguez; San Mateo in Rizal; Barangay Cupang in Antipolo; Barangay Pritil in Guiguinto, Bulacan; and Barangay Bagong Silangan and Payatas in Quezon City.
Stop smuggling
SINAG called on the BOC to implement a strict inspection of imported processed meat at the ports of entry into the country to prevent the smuggling of ASF-contaminated products.
“No matter how hard we try to do quarantine for swine in Rizal and Bulacan, if imported processed meat enters the country, then it’s useless,” So said.
Rizal and Bulacan are among the provinces with ASF cases.
So added that the quarantine at the ports of entry to be done by the BAI should be around the clock.
Residents of Barangay Bulihan in Plaridel, Bulacan have complained of foul smell from burial sites of pigs that were culled to prevent the spread of ASF. Barangay officials refused to provide media with details of the culling and burial of hogs, claiming that top officials ordered them not to issue any statement.
Reporters and cameramen from GMA-7, radio station dwIZ and news tabloid Remate were harassed by village officials in Barangay Bulihan when they tried to cover the culling of pigs yesterday morning.
Cameramen Jose Erwin Bunag and Isagani Cruz, both of GMA-7, had reported to the Bulacan police that Bulihan kagawad Arnel Gonzales allegedly badmouthed the reporters and demanded that the video footage be deleted, which Loiue Angeles of dwIZ and Ricardo Mirasol of Remate confirmed to The STAR.
The barangay official claimed the media did not ask permission to take video footage and warned that cases would be filed against them, Bunag said, adding that Gonzalez even tried to take away the camera of the mediamen.
Col. Chito Bersaluna, Bulacan police director, confirmed that the GMA-7 cameramen filed a blotter report of the incident at the Plaridel police station.
The DA had earlier confirmed an outbreak of ASF in Barangay Pritil in Guiguinto town and placed the village under quarantine wherein all hogs were not allowed to enter or leave the area.
Meanwhile, hog raisers conducted a lechon festival with 65 roasted pigs at the Tarlac City capitol in cooperation with the provincial government to stop the spread of ASF scare in the country.
Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap and other local officials ate lechon and other pork dishes to demonstrate the safety of pork in the province.
Provincial veterinarian Maria Lorna Baculanta said that Tarlac is free from ASF and that her office is closely monitoring all pork products entering or passing through the province.
Yap said that the lechon festival aimed to show that Tarlac remains safe from ASF. – With Eva Visperas, Ramon Efren Lazaro, Ric Sapnu