A SENIOR congressman has said distribution of free anti-African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccines to backyard growers will result in increased production and eventually lower prices for pork.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said backyard swine growers provide 70 to 80 percent of the local pork production, thus giving their livestock free anti-ASF shots will result in increased supply and lower prices.
Since mid-2023, Villafuerte has been seeking state subsidy for backyard or small hog raisers once the government implements an anti-ASF immunization program.
He supports proposal for the Department of Agriculture (DA) to give anti-ASF shots to backyard hog growers, as President Marcos ordered the DA to speed up the rollout of the vaccines to curb the spread of the disease.
“As I have proposed since last year, the government needs to shoulder the cost of the vaccines for small-scale or backyard raisers, considering that many of them are still reeling from the twin impacts of ASF, which resurfaced locally in 2019, and the three-year COVID-19 pandemic, and are thus in no position to pay for this extra medical expense amid their business losses,” Villafuerte said.
“Hence, I support this proposal for the government to give priority to giving free anti-ASF shots to the hogs of backyard raisers as the DA, through its BAI (Bureau of Animal Industry), fast-tracks its vaccine rollout as ordered by the President,” Villafuerte added.
A former governor of Camarines Sur, which is one of the ASF-hit provinces in the country, Villafuerte also backed an industry proposal for the government to fast-track its vaccine rollout by seeking the assistance of local governments in deputizing local vaccinators in their respective areas of jurisdiction to administer the shots.
