00:00The group of hog raisers called on the government to declare a national state of calamity in the country
00:06because of the large number of places affected by the African Swine Fever.
00:10The group also warned that the price of pork in Vermont could possibly rise if the ESF does not act soon.
00:17This is what Clay Zalcordilla reported.
00:22Hundreds of pigs were hit by the African Swine Fever in Batangas, in the town of Lobo.
00:28The ESF killed and buried the affected people.
00:32According to the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines,
00:36the pigs in Batangas are now being sold at a discount
00:40which is close to the affected places of the ESF due to the fear of being caught.
00:44One month ago, the farmgate price was P220 per kilo.
00:52The farmers here, the people who have an outbreak,
00:58they only buy P2,000 per head.
01:02So P10 per kilo is P200 per farm.
01:07So you can see the calamity that our farmers are facing.
01:12The Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines warned that if the ESF does not act soon in Batangas,
01:18which is one of the main producers of pork for Metro Manila,
01:23the price of pork in Vermont will surely rise.
01:27So we need to hurry and give vaccines.
01:31And the price of pork, if it is not caught in the province of Batangas,
01:41and the price of pork is depleted,
01:43and some people are in a hurry because there's no time to sell it,
01:47by October, I believe, the price of pork will suddenly rise here in Luzon.
01:54From five towns last week, the ESF has cases in eight municipalities in Batangas,
02:01including Lian, Rosario, Talisay, Lipa, Tuwi and San Juan,
02:07as well as Lobo and Calatagan, which have already declared a state of calamity.
02:12More than 1,500 pigs have already been slaughtered in Caleng.
02:17This is fast.
02:18Almost 40 barangays have already had ESF in eight towns of Batangas.
02:25There are new cases that are still spreading.
02:30Lipa was declared free of ESF.
02:34So we're seeing a resurgence.
02:36Possibly, the passengers, or as they say, flooding in other places.
02:43To curb the spread of ESF,
02:46the Department of Agriculture has targeted to start vaccinating pigs in the third week of August.
02:5410,000 vaccines were distributed in Batangas,
02:58under the agency's emergency procurement.
03:02Test kits are also being distributed to those affected by ESF.
03:07ESF will also be part of the fight against the spread of ESF in Caleng, Bumaha.
03:12Biosecurity has been tightened in Batangas,
03:15and a checkpoint has been added to prevent the entry and exit of pigs with ESF.
03:22Every pig that has ESF will also pay P5,000.
03:28Batangas, as of today, has almost 1 million hog population.
03:33That's practically 10% of the existing hog population that we have in the country.
03:39It's very important that we need to protect the remaining hogs.
03:43The day is still on top of this.
03:45The ProPort has called for an increase in the indemnification fee
03:50and to declare a national state of calamity or emergency
03:54so that more than P5 billion can be allocated for the widespread vaccination of pigs against ESF.
04:02Around P150 billion of our hogs are losing their value.
04:07Now, there's a new outbreak coming back.
04:11If it rains like this, the spread of ESF seems to be fast.
04:15So to protect everyone...
04:18Not the whole country, but the Secretary will check on the merits.
04:24A vaccine of P350 million is for controlled vaccination.
04:28The number of doses is P650,000.
04:32So, of course, it's just for this stage of our vaccination procedure.
04:41The DA reiterated that the public should not be worried.
04:45ESF is not contagious to humans.
04:48It has proven that pigs and other types of meat are well-cooked.
04:53The Hog Racer agency is urging people not to sell sick pigs,
04:58even though the price of pigs is increasing every month.
05:03The agency assured that this is enough because there is an imported supply.
05:08Kalay Zalpardilla for Pambansang TV in the new Philippines.
