THE Department of Agriculture (DA)-Davao Region will rehabilitate the hog industry in Davao City following the entry of the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus, which resulted to the culling of almost 5,000 hogs.
DA-Davao Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Section chief Noel Provido, in a phone interview, said DA is coordinating with the City Veterinarian's Office (CVO) and other concerned agencies to normalize the situation of the affected hog raisers in some barangays in Calinan.
"Gusto na namo i-normalize ang situation sa ground following the depopulation process, kay luoy intawon atong mga hog raisers nga nawad-an og panginabuhian tungod sa ASF (We want to normalize the situation on the ground following the depopulation process. Our hog raisers had incurred much burden after losing their livelihood due to ASF)," Provido said.
DA is currently imposing the "1-7-10 Protocol", which restricts the entering or leaving of live animals in the areas where the virus was traced.
Covered under the one-kilometer radius, which is classified as quarantine zone, are Calinan villages Dominga and Lamanan along with five puroks of Inayangan.
Earlier, a total of 2,343 hogs were already culled in Dominga and Lamanan, while last week 2,089 hogs from the five puroks in Inayangan underwent a similar fate.
Provido underscored the necessity of culling all pigs in the radius area as there is no vaccine available to prevent the disease from spreading.
He said based on their recent dialogue with the affected hog raisers in the area, they are asking the local government to ease the strict measures imposed as their other means of livelihood were already affected.
Provido, however, said they cannot loosen their protocol measures as they wanted to ensure that the virus will be contained.
He added they are strictly following the decontamination and disinfection process for 30 days. After that, a single hog will be raised in the infected area, which will be monitored to check whether the virus still exists. If the hog dies, it means that the virus has not been fully-eradicated.
Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed Executive Order No. 105 on February 21, creating a national task force to prevent the entry, contain, and control animal-borne diseases such as ASF following the sharp rise in the number of cases nationwide.
The task force aims to "oversee and implement effective and coordinated policies and strategies to manage, contain, and control the spread of such diseases."
It is also tasked to develop and implement a national public awareness campaign on animal-borne diseases which may pose a threat to the country; develop programs to aid those affected by animal-borne diseases, such as the grant of financial assistance, livelihood alternatives, and necessary skills training; enhance contingency and action plans for emergency disease control; and prepare and submit timely reports on the status of animal-borne diseases, including the ASF virus.
The task force also mandates all departments, bureaus, offices, agencies or institutions of the government, including government-owned-or-controlled corporations, and state universities and colleges, and local government units, to render the necessary assistance to the task force.
Provido said the task force would also serve as a rehabilitation body, where all government agencies will be providing support not only to the affected hog raisers but also other stakeholders.
"We consider this (the ASF infection) in the city as a 'calamity', since it not only disadvantaged those raising live hogs, it also raised concerns from the meat vendors, slaughter workers, and the consumers," he said.
For the part of DA, he said they are still processing the indemnity payment of P5,000 per hog culled and advised the hog raisers to avail of the P30,000-credit window per hog raisers, which is payable within three years with zero interest.
Provido, meanwhile, said they are continuously monitoring other barangays within the "1-7-10 Protocol and series of blood samples are being submitted for testing. (RGL)