MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis Pangilinan on Thursday pushed for an immediate investigation on the smuggled pork from China that reportedly caused the spread of the African swine fever (ASF) in the country.
“Someone must be held accountable over these illegal shipments,” Pangilinan, a former food security chief, said in a statement.
“Now that we have confirmed and identified the cause of the ASF outbreak in the Philippines, it is important more than ever to escalate our efforts to curb its spread,” he added.
According to reports, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said that the smuggled pork from China caused the spread of ASF in the Philippines.
In October, two shipping containers from China, a country affected by ASF, were seized after it was found to have misdeclared its cargo of pork products as tomato paste and vermicelli.
Last September, DA admitted that ASF has hit the Philippines.
ASF has been confirmed in various areas of Bulacan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Rizal, Quezon City, and Nueva Ecija, with over 62,000 hogs dead from either the degenerative effects of ASF, or by culling.
With this, Pangilinan also appealed to all sectors in the hog industry to cooperate with the DA as it implements measures to prevent the spread of ASF.
He said concerned sectors must “immediately report to the DA if any pigs in the area are showing any symptoms of ASF, as the DA initiates quick response and tightens its surveillance over affected areas while keeping a close eye on neighboring barangays.”
The senator also underscored the need to “establish quarantine checkpoints in affected barangays to ensure that affected pig or pork products remain in the area.”
“Cooperate with DA-led culling of infected pigs and ensure that proper procedures are followed in the disposing of culled pigs,” the senator suggested.
“May balita tayo na nililibing sa tabing-ilog ang mga infected na baboy. Malaki ang posibilidad na kumalat kung mababaw ang pinaglibingan at dadalhin din ng daloy ng ilog ang dugo ng mga infected na baboy sa mga karatig-barangay.”
(We have reports that infected pigs are being buried near rivers. There’s a big possibility that it will spread if they are buried in a shallow grave and the blood of the infected hogs would flow downstream and reach nearby communities). /muf