Today is Maundy Thursday and tomorrow is Good Friday. And, as we commemorate the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection, wish our officials in government and its agencies to be true to their oath.
The culling of hogs affected with the African swine fever (ASF) and those found within the 500-meter radius from the affected area without the benefit of further testing and validation is outrageous. It could only raise suspicions that it is part of a wider spectrum on the importation of pork meat that has greatly affected the hog industry in the country.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia immediately reacted and prevented the culling protocol of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), which included the culling of hogs within the 500-meter radius.
She said BAI’s pronouncements of an ASF outbreak in Cebu “placed Cebu’s P11 billion hog industry in bad light and, along with its policies on handling the ASF threat, caused ‘economic dislocation’ in the province.”
Governor Garcia also questioned why BAI is among the government’s bureaus that approved the importation of pork.
Garcia cited Sen. Cynthia Villar, who questioned BAI officials during a Senate hearing on Jan. 8, 2023, about the oversupply of imported pork meat, which has affected the country’s pork producers.
Is it now the policy of this administration to import every consumer’s needs? It is not too long ago to forget the issues surrounding the importation of sugar and other consumer needs that put the Department of Agriculture (DA) in a bad light.
Is the other meaning of ASF, artificial swine fever? With the BAI’s declaration that ASF was detected not only in Cebu but also in other parts of the country, we then find out that the bureau approves and authorizes the importation of pork meat with most of it coming from China.
Governor Garcia did not back down from the ASF issue even with the criticism that she has no technical knowledge on the matter. Instead, the governor issued an executive order stopping the culling of hogs. It penalizes the testing of hogs in the province if it is not done by a province-, city- or municipal-accredited veterinarian or agriculturist.
Garcia promised Carcar City’s hog raisers a P5,000 compensation per pig that was ordered culled by the BAI.
It was reported that some 141 pigs had been culled in Carcar, the first local government unit in Cebu where the BAI had detected ASF last month, before Garcia ordered a stop to the cull pending verification of whether the pigs really had ASF and not just some other disease with similar symptoms.
On March 29, Garcia filed a complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas against BAI Director Paul Limson, deputy program coordinator Dr. Samuel Joseph Castro, BAI coordinator on ASF Dr. Joshua Cruz, Dr. Miriam Lopez Vito of the Regional Veterinary Quarantine Station and DA 7 coordinator on ASF Dr. Daniel Ventura Jr. for allegedly violating the provisions of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Local Government Code of the 1991 and the New Civil Code. The case stemmed from the insistence of BAI that there is an ASF outbreak in Cebu without consulting and coordinating with the Capitol.
A group of veterinarians issued a statement supporting the BAI, saying the latter is only following government protocol on ASF.
Whether the case that Governor Garcia filed against the BAI vets will hold, it is for the anti-graft office to appreciate the facts and evidence presented.