Friday, 20 September 20.

19
Daily Tribune

TO PREVENT ASF SPR EAD

tells hog raisers

Stonoins the suread of ASF must be done now before it engulfs the entire industry and f{j.
enOallg.'t ttre jbbs of tens of thousands of people
':ii.
By Hner ll. Manuel and lbith Calayaq Previously, the Agriculture Earlier, Sen. Sonny Angara has called:
department'J Bureau of Animal on the gove=,mgli t9 t9f-tle ll-lnPi'i
The Department of Agriculture Industry confirmed the presence Quick Reaction Funds (QRl) of the DA
(DA) on Thursday urged hog of ASF in Rodriguez town, Rizal, xnder this year's CalamiW Fund to stgp:
raisers to cooperate wiih ;;;;;;; cupan! in Antipolo and the spread ofASl saving inat it can nd#,
authorities in its bid to Prevent -'-fie iown in
Guiguinio Bulacan be considered a calamity.
further spread of ihe dreaded agriculture chief noied that "It may not have the dramatib'
African swine fever (ASF), Guiguinto t0wn has been cleared fsstr2gg that tmhoons create, but in
uWe are again requesting all while there are still "remrants' of terms of damage t0 livelihood, a-nd '
hog iaisers not to slaughter AStr'in Rizal. the households affected, ii is just'as''
pigs with ASF, it . "If hog raisers wilt not damaging," said Angara, noting th?tt
will just spread cooperate, this n'ill linger ASF has the poiential of becoming
the dis e as e,'. for a while," Dar said. . a high-category calamity in terms -of
Agriculture In a radio interview, agricultural disaster.
SecreiaxyWilliafiI DA Secretary William -stoppingthe spread oIASF must be
Dal said. ulet's Dar said that hog raisers done now before it engulJs the entire
cooperate ean avail of a P30,000 industry aird endanger the iobs oftens
,i nt e r e st=f r et i o an, 61 11s1s6nds of people,' he added
with the
government so payable in three years, The senator stressed that the
we can protect and will be given P3,000 funding for anti-ASF measures cani
out P260 billion per culled pig should their be sourced from the PHP20-billion,
tpGr
worth of hog l Uu.i*. nfectea ttationat Disaster Risk Reduction and.
industry" wiih ASF, Management Fund, more commonlY ,
known as the Calamity Fund, ir thd
\ eAg€'rgn General Appropdations Act of 2019.
. uThe government should nowbreak
the glass of this emergencY fund
and use it io implement the D.{q
containment protoc0l against a disease .
which threatens a kby f0od source that,
also adds P280 billion to the economJ
annually,' Angara said.
The senator assued that the Senate
will support a.ny ineasure, including the
appropriation ofadditional fimds, to combai
anv firnue oubreak of the disease.
Magsasaka Partylisi ReP. Argel
Cabatbat has also filed House Bill 336
which directs ihe House committee
on agriculture and food to lopk intq-
the status of ASF proliferation in the.
country, -r
i
In the resolution, Cabatbat pointed
oui that ivhile the National Meal
Inspection Service has assured thq.
public that the ASF is not considered
a serious health ihreat, humans may
beconie carriers of the virus, whic\;'
if left unchecked, can find its way to
meat products.