President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. directed agriculture officials to boost biosecurity measures and ramp up livestock consolidation to combat African swine fever (ASF), in addition to the ongoing vaccination efforts.
“The key to that is consolidation. We have been working on consolidation because if hogs are raised in backyard farms, it becomes difficult to control biosecurity,” President Marcos said Friday during a meeting with the Regional Development Council III at the CSJDM Convention Center.
He noted the challenges of relocating livestock to biosecure facilities, saying many hog raisers are hesitant to give up their animals.
However, he stressed the importance of biosecurity, saying that even vaccinated pigs remain vulnerable if farm conditions are not properly managed.
Agriculture Undersecretary-designate for Livestock Constante Palabrica assured the President that measures are being implemented to educate farmers on biosecurity protocols.
Palabrica said that 80 percent of vaccinated pigs are well-protected, and the ongoing ASF immunization campaign has already covered 50,000 hogs.
He added that the government has procured 500,000 ASF vaccine doses, with close to 200,000 allocated for Region 3.
“So far, we’re getting good results, and once the Bureau of Animal Industry compiles all the data, we will submit it to the Food and Drug Administration,” Palabrica said.
He explained that under a memorandum of understanding between the Bureau of Animal Industry and the FDA, vaccine efficacy and effectiveness must be evaluated before receiving a modified release permit and full regulatory approval.