(Keith Bacongco / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“While we stand firm that the issuance of minimum access volume (MAV) in-quota allocation is above-board and non-discretionary, we have created a special committee to to look into allegations made by a lawmaker that there is a syndicate in the DA engaged in a payoff scheme,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.
The committee is headed by the department’s legal service chief and will base its inquiry on the initial findings of the DA-MAV secretariat.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson on March 15 bared the alleged existence of a multi-billion-peso anomaly in the importation of pork, allegedly run by a syndicate within the DA. Lacson said the syndicate is bound to gain billions of pesos once the proposed increase in MAV for imported pork and reduction in tariffs are approved.
FILE: CHICKEN PRODUCTS. A vendor hangs a dressed chicken at his stall at the Powerline Market, Phase 4, Bagong Silang- Kanan, Caloocan City on Tuesday (Feb. 2, 2021). The government has imposed a 60-day price ceiling on pork and meat products to arrest amid the rising cost of the commodities. (PNA photo by Ben Briones)
MANILA – The government’s sub-task group on economic intelligence (Econ Intel) will begin its watch on prices of meat products on Feb. 8, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Thursday.
“
Yung bagong task group
mag-iikot next week (The new task group will begin surveillance next week),” DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI) chief Reildren Morales said in a virtual briefing.
SunStar January 27, 2021 PRIOR to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in 2020, there is another disease outbreak happening in our country. Instead of humans, this disease is affecting an important food source for many pork.
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious hemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild pigs caused by a large DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family. Currently, there is no approved vaccine for the ASF.
Records from the OIE also show that the Philippines reported its first ASF outbreak in Rizal and Bulacan. Some 7,416 swine were killed and disposed of to prevent the further spread of the disease. According to the documents retrieved from OIE, the outbreak began in July 2019. It was reported to the OIE on September 9, 2019. The OIE report states that the source of the infection is suspected swill feeding, then spread through illegal movement of already sick p
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has allotted P80 million for the development and production of locally made test kits that can detect the African Swine Fever (ASF).
QUEZON CITY, Jan. 24 As part of the current nationwide biosecurity and surveillance program, aptly called “BABay ASF” (Bantay ASF sa Barangay), the Department of Agriculture (DA) is initially allotting P80 million (M) for the development and mass production of Filipino-made test kits that can detect the dreaded African Swine Fever (ASF) faster and cheaper.
“We are allocating an initial P80 million through the DA-National Livestock Program (NLP) and Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to mass-produce and distribute to local government units (LGUs) the test kit, called “ASFV Nanogold Biosensor,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar.
“We commend the team from the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in partnership with the DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) who developed the ASF rapid test kit,” the DA chief added.