By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
THE government would only compensate hog raisers whose pig population would be culled by officials in the event of an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in the country, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry’s (BAI) contingency plan.
In its ASF Contingency Plan, BAI indicated that the indemnification of farms would “only be applied for animals that are killed during the culling operations.”
Raisers whose hogs died after contracting ASF will not be eligible for compensation, except if their farms are insured by state-run Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC).
“Compensation or indemnification shall only be applied for animals that are killed during the culling operations,” the contingency plan, which has been updated for the fourth time, read.
The contingency plan noted that eligible famers should be “fairly compensated” to aid them cope with their losses due to the destruction of their farm pigs and products.
Under the plan, the government shall pay eligible farmers based on the prevailing farm-gate price of the culled animals, as determined by the Department of Trade and Industry, and Department of Agriculture (DA).
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Joy O. Lagayan of the BAI’s ASF Task Force urged swine raisers to avail themselves of the PCIC’s insurance program.
The PCIC recently approved the inclusion of avian influenza (AI) and ASF on their list of “compensable perils.” The BAI and PCIC are both under the DA.
“Take advantage of this and secure your livelihood, especially now that AI and ASF are a very much real and looming threat to our industry,” the BAI-ASF Task Force said in May.
Under the ASF Contingency Plan, the national government and local government units (LGUs) shall share the responsibility of financing the needs in eradicating the disease in case of outbreak.
They would also share the responsibility of providing indemnification to affected swine farms.
Under the plan, the BAI shall allocate funds for the operational expense during the eradication campaign while regional field offices of the DA shall fund the compensation for livestock owners.
The LGUs should also allocate funds as counterpart for either compensation or operational activities expenses, according to the contingency plan.
In case of outbreaks, ASF-infected pigs would be slaughtered through approved humane processes, such as allowing the Philippine National Police to shoot the animals using a gun of not less than 0.22 caliber, and stunning and sticking.
“Slaughter of animals shall be done in the presence of a licensed veterinarian. Reflexes will be checked after the human process of euthanasia,” the document read. The destruction and disposal of infected pigs would be done through various ways approved by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The disposal procedures include incineration, field burning, burying, and a combination of burning and burying. “These shall be done as soon as possible to prevent the spread of infection by fomites, vectors and other means,” the contingency plan read.
The BAI updates and revises the ASF Contingency Plan once it receives new information related to the fatal swine disease.
Manila has stepped up its implemen-tation of anti-ASF measures to protect its P200-billion domestic hog industry after neighboring Southeast Asian countries were struck by the fatal swine disease.
ASF is now in Lao PDR, the third Southeast Asian country to be hit by the disease. The DA banned pork products from Laos after it recently confirmed outbreaks of ASF.