Photo Release

On ASF testing facilities in the country: Sen. Joel Villanueva, during the continuation of the hybrid hearing of the Committee of the Whole on the food security crisis brought about by African swine fever (ASF) outbreak Thursday, April15, 2021, asks officials of the Department of Agriculture about the status of its testing capability to detect ASF infection in the country. Villanueva noted there are still four regions affected by ASF that still do not have testing facilities, namely the Cordillera Administrative Region, Western Visayas, Caraga and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. “How do we intend to target, for example 23 million to 28 million pigs supplied annually by our local hog breeders, how many of these do we anticipate testing for ASF in 2021?” Villanueva asked. National Meat Inspection Service Exec. Dir. Reildrin Morales replied that efforts to strengthen their testing capacity have been continuous, including the procurement of additional testing equipment amounting to more than P100 million to be deployed in various regional animal disease laboratories. According to him, they currently have testing facilities in 13 regions and they intend to put up more than one facility in every region affected by ASF. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)