Bagong Pilipinas for the swine industry

No less than President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) himself – who is concurrently the acting secretary of the Department of Agriculture – acknowledged the need to support and enhance the country’s swine industry. In a speech delivered during the opening ceremony of the Livestock Philippines 2023 trade fair held a few weeks ago, he underscored that “it is imperative to highlight the role of this sector in our nation’s pursuit of food security and global competitiveness. This sector not only puts food on the table for millions of Filipinos; it also provides a means of livelihood for countless farmers and other ancillary service providers.”

The President also reminded those in attendance about the current – and very significant – threat facing the entire industry, namely the continued spread of the African swine fever (ASF) in our local farms.

It is both noteworthy and reassuring that the President is fully aware of the gravity of the situation, and has thus prioritized a well-mapped response. As frequently reported in the news, hundreds of billions in economic opportunities have already been taken from our farmers by ASF. This means the loss of livelihood for countless Filipino families, putting their welfare, health care, education and more at risk.

To make matters worse, when the production of one food source is threatened, it creates a ripple effect that affects the rest of the supply chain. Because of rising pork prices caused by ASF, consumers will naturally lean toward substitutes. This demand surge will exert upward pressure on the cost of commodities like livestock and poultry, as well as fish and vegetables.

With the goal of detecting and preventing the spread of diseases like ASF, PBBM spearheaded the Department of Agriculture’s Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion, which is also known as the INSPIRE program. To date, more than 430 farmers’cooperatives and associations with more than 13,000 members and an estimated 27,500 individual farmers have benefitted from this project.

More importantly, during the same speech, the President made a truly momentous revelation: “We are also happy to announce the completion of Phase One of the safety and efficacy trials for the ASF vaccines. The Bureau of Animal Industry has found it to produce sufficient antibodies and to be safe for use. And as it stands, the Philippine FDA is on track to issue a certificate of product registration for these vaccines while Phase Two trials are underway.”

Nearly all groups and associations involved in the swine industry lauded this announcement (with some members literally jumping for joy), particularly because it came straight from the very top, namely the President himself. This put the final nail in the coffin to a recent spate of fake news and disinformation about the forthcoming vaccine, which unfortunately misled even some of our scientists.

If only there was a vaccine against bitter fake-news peddlers, right? Imagine sabotaging a legitimate vaccine – and consequently, the entire country’s food supply – for no good reason.

There was a previous attempt to register another vaccine from another country but it was not considered for the most basic (and glaring) reason: the other vaccine was not even registered and sold in the country that it was manufactured in.

Be that as it may, I am glad that PBBM, the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Animal Industry and the Food and Drug Administration have brought a definitive ray of hope to our embattled swine farmers. We are certainly looking forward to the arrival of the first batch of ASF vaccines.