By Manny Piñol
The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry and the Hog Raisers Association of the Philippines have agreed to strengthen bio-security measures in the airports and ports to counter threats of “bio-terrorism.”
During a meeting Thursday at the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, officials of the DA, BAI and hog raisers led by their President Chester Tan, agreed to implement more stringent measures including the use of trained sniffing dogs to check the possible entry of pork or pork products from countries affected by the African Swine Fever.
“The threat of Bio-Terrorism is real, especially now that elections are near and there is a concerted effort to discredit the Department of Agriculture and the administration,” said one of the officers of the hog raisers group.
“We can never be sure up to what extent these people who are hell-bent on destroying the programs of this government could go,” the officer who requested anonymity said.
The DA-BAI has issued an invitation to companies offering services of sniffing dogs to immediately coordinate with the Office of the Secretary for an emergency engagement of their services.
The sniffing dogs will be deployed in all airports and ports of entry in the country and will be employed in checking presence of meat in the luggages of incoming passengers.
The DA is also preparing an Administrative Order which would impose stiff penalties for violation of Quarantine Protocols which include bring in plant and animal products with the needed Sanitary and Pytho-Sanitary Permits.
During the meeting, the DA and the Livestock Group also discussed programs which would help bring down the cost of feeds, including the establishment of village-level feed mills for backyard hog raisers.
The DA also bared that in addition to its support for the Corn Production Program, the National Sorghum Development Program also aims to plant about 200,000 hectares to Sorghum next year.
Discussions also focused on addressing the increase in the volume of pork imports which the hog raisers said was hurting the small farmers.
(First photo showing a sniffing dog was downloaded from a public website. Succeeding photos show the meeting between DA-BAI officials and officers of the Hog Raisers Association led by Chester Tan.)
More Stories
Practical Farming: Turn Used Plastic Containers Into Life-Time Laying Nests!
Super Bulb Onion Grown In Alamada, North Cotabato
Kapehan With Pareng Gob