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BALANGA CITY, Bataan––Hog raisers affected by the African swine fever (ASF) that hit Bataan province would receive P85 million worth of assistance from the Department of Agriculture (DA), officials said on Sunday, Jan. 23.
Dr. Alberto Venturina, the provincial veterinarian, said the DA would release the funding on top of 2,000 piglets under the agency’s Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion program.
Venturina said the DA is now evaluating prospective beneficiaries in the province.
He said the recommended beneficiaries were cooperatives and hog raisers’ associations.
“Hopefully, the implementation of the program will be until the second quarter of the year,” Venturina said.
The DA said the country’s hog industry was finally recuperating two years after the ASF devastated almost 3,000 villages, including those from Bataan.
Early cases of ASF were detected in August 2019 in Dinalupihan, Hermosa, and eventually in Orani, Samal, Bagac, and Morong towns.