Coming home from a long trip to Abra and Mt. Province tonight, I was saddened to hear a report from Bureau of Animal Industry Acting Director Ronnie Domingo that our Quarantine Officers were being lambasted by broadcaster Raffy Tulfo for confiscating cans of Maling from an OFW coming from Hongkong.
Worse, Raffy Tulfo used his influence as a media man to have the confiscated items released by the Bureau of Customs and returned these to the OFW who went to his radio program to complain.
I will not give malice to the actions of Raffy Tulfo (the Tulfo brothers are my friends, their older brother Mon being the Godfather of my daughter, Dra. Josa) and I will not even blame the OFW for seeking his help.
Siguro, kulang pa ang aming information campaign dahil pati ang isang batikan na broadcaster ay hindi alam ang kaibahan ng African Swine Fever sa Foot and Mouth Disease.
But what happened was a serious violation of our Quarantine Laws and I will have to order an investigation.
The BAI which is under the Department of Agriculture is on guard against the entry of pork and pork processed products from several countries including China and Hongkong because of the outbreak of the African Swine Fever.
The ASF is a deadly disease of hogs which could wipe out our hog industry in the Philippines.
There is no vaccine or cure for the disease.
I will be asking our Quarantine Officers with the help of the Philippine National Police to track down the OFW who brought the canned Maling from Hongkong to Ilocos.
Nananawagan po ako sa mga nakakakilala sa OFW na kung maari ay pagsab8han na huwag buksan ang mga de lata na Maling.
Ito ay dahil kung ang tira-tira na Maling ay maipakain sa mga baboy sa probinsya maaring kumalat ang ASF.
Meron po kaparusahan na P200,000 ang pagpasok ng mga ipinagbabawal na karne sa ating bansa at ang ating mga Quarantine Officers ang may tanging kapangyarihan na kumliskahin ito.
Maski ako na Secretary of Agriculture ay hindi nanghihimasok sa mga Quarantine Officers sa kanilang pagganap ng kanilang tungkulin at hindi tama na murahin sila ninuman dahil ginagawa lamang nila ang kanilang trabaho.
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