With President Rodrigo Duterte declaring a state of calamity due to African swine fever (ASF), local governments are now able to use their quick response funds to try and contain the outbreak that has resulted in an uneven supply and sharp rise in prices of meat products in the country.
PRESIDENT Duterte declared a nationwide state of calamity due to the African swine fever (ASF) that caused pork supply shortage and increasedprices of the pork products.
To date, it has spread to 493 cities and municipalities in 12 regions, which prompted President Duterte to address the issue.
According to Proclamation No. 1143, new cases are being reported despite constant government interventions to contain the outbreak.
With the state of calamity in place, local governments are able to use their quick response funds to try and contain the outbreak of ASF.
The proclamation is valid for one year unless earlier lifted by the president, and it reads:
“There is hereby declared a State of Calamity throughout the Philippines on account of the ASF outbreak, for a period of one year beginning this date, unless earlier lifted or extended as circumstances may warrant.”
Two weeks ago, Agriculture Secretary William Dar announced that the positive samples of ASF in the country dropped significantly.
From 337 in February and 286 in March, the number dropped to just 98 in April.
This was a huge drop compared to the 1,773 positive samples collected in August 2020, and 1,556 samples in September.
While the numbers have clearly seen a decrease, the president still saw it fit to declare a nationwide state of calamity.
This way, local government units can tap their funds to create solutions for the continuous ravaging of the African swine fever in the country’s pork supply.
With a surge in prices, president Duterte also ordered a price cap on pork, and issued an Executive Order to lower tariffs on frozen pork imports to allow more pork to enter the country to address the surge in prices.
Unfortunately, that price cap failed to stop the inflation from increasing.
The executive order was questioned by lawmakers, as they believe that it is more important for the government to support the local hog raising industry rather than solving the problem through importing more pork. (OM)
Tags: #RodrigoDuterte, #DepartmentofAgriculture, #hogindustry, #AfricanSwineFever