(UPDATED) President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a nationwide state of calamity due to the African Swine Fever outbreak that has pushed the prices of pork products higher and contributed to the contraction in the economy in the first quarter.
The state of calamity will be effective for one year from May 10, 2021 based on President Duterte's Proclamation No. 1143. Declaring a state of calamity will allow affected local government units to tap into their quick response funds to control the spread of ASF.
"There is an urgent need to address the continued spread of ASF and its adverse impacts to jumpstart the rehabilitation of the local hog industry and to ensure the availability, adequacy and affordability of pork products, all for the purpose of attaining food security," Duterte said in his proclamation.
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Senator Francis Pangilinan, who pushed for the declaration of the state of calamity, said the proclamation will allow local hog raisers to recover from the ASF outbreak.
"Malaking tulong ang dagdag na pondo na magiging tulong pinansyal o indemnification sa mga magbababoy na halos naubos na ang alaga at dagdag na pondo rin sa pagpapalawig ng biosafety protocols nang masugpo ang pagkalat ng ASF," he said.
For his part, Senator Joel Villanueva said the state of calamity declaration should now cue the Department of Agriculture to take concrete steps to eradicate the disease that has crippled the local hog industry.
"Hopefully, this declaration will prompt the government to move as one, marshal all resources available, and work on a timetable that results in quick victory," he said.
Since the first reported case of ASF in the Philippines in 2019, the hog disease has spread throughout 12 regions and 46 provinces across the country, the President said.
The government also blamed ASF for the "significant" reduction of around three million hogs in the country's swine population which, it said, resulted in more than P100 billion in losses.
The dwindling supply of pigs has caused a spike in the prices of pork products with a kilo of pork costing as much as P400 to P500 at the start of the year. In February, the President capped the prices of pork and chicken in Metro Manila for a month as household budgets struggled to keep up.
Earlier this month, the Department of Agriculture said it was looking into the potential of Ivermectin in preventing and controlling the spread of African Swine Fever, as some lawmakers pushed for the antiparasitic drug as a COVID-19 cure.
-- with reports from Erwin Colcol
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