Villar bats for first border facility vs swine fever

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Cynthia Villar has called for the construction of a first border facility to control the spread of African swine fever (ASF).

Villar – chair of the Senate agriculture, food and agrarian reform committee – said the Senate has passed her proposal to establish a livestock, poultry and dairy industry development and competitiveness fund.

She proposed that the fund be sourced from tariff collections on imported livestock, poultry and dairy to help farmers recover from the effects of ASF and bird flu.

“There is a need to rehabilitate the livestock industry. That’s why I authored this bill. The idea is to stop animal diseases from entering the country,” Villar said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay yesterday.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel declared Camarines Norte free from avian influenza.

Tiu Laurel issued Memorandum Circular No. 6 certifying that Camarines Norte was able to contain the virus after detecting the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N2 at a backyard duck farm in Talisay town in December.

He said the provincial government, in coordination with the municipal government of Talisay, DA field office and Bureau of Animal Industry implemented a comprehensive control strategy, including immediate depopulation at the affected farm, thorough cleaning and disinfection, movement restrictions and enhanced surveillance.

“Following these actions, surveillance within a one-kilometer and seven-kilometer radius around the affected area yielded no new bird flu infections, with all tests negative for the virus,” Tiu Laurel said.