Senator Joel Villanueva has appealed to the government to release its aid for local hog raisers ahead of the arrival of imported pork products to the Philippines.

Villanueva said “farmers will feel betrayed if imports will flood the market, while aid to them will come in trickles.”

“Mahirap naman kung ang ETA o estimated time of arrival ng imported pork ay mas maaga kesa delivery ng ayuda sa mga lokal na magbababoy (Its not appropriate if the ETA of imported pork is earlier than the delivery of assistance to local hog raisers),” he pointed out in his statement on Wednesday, April 28.

The senator issued the call as he noted the delay in the Department of Agriculture's (DA) rollout of a “clear and comprehensive strategy in helping the local hog industry recover from the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.”

He recalled that during the Senate Committee of the Whole inquiry last Tuesday, April 27, into the effects of the ASF outbreak, the “DA has not yet presented a grand plan that would serve as a recovery road map to guide and inspire our local hog farmers.”

“It seems there is no viable plan of action in place to revive our local hog industry. Ni-hindi po updated ang database ng ating mga hog farmers (Even the database of our local hog is not updated),” he added.

“Kaya ang resulta, dalawang taon na karamihan wala pang tulong na natatanggap (That's why the result is that many of them have yet to receive aid two years since the outbreak)," Villanueva lamented.

The DA explained that its indemnification program pays about P5,000 per culled pig, while the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation's (PCIC) livestock insurance sets it at P10,000 per head.

Senator Grace Poe, meanwhile, advised the DA to regain the trust of local hog raisers by tapping them towards long-term "instead of band-aid solutions."

“There’s much trust that was lost between the DA and its stakeholders that really needs to be rebuilt. I think this is a fundamental factor that will enable the success of any future endeavor,” Poe said in a separate statement.

Stakeholders from the local hog sector have raised concerns on the increased minimum access volume (MAV) set by the government, which they claimed was set without proper consultation.

They also opposed the Executive Order No.128, which reduces pork tariffs from 30 to 40 percent to a low of five to 10 percent.

Economic managers, on the other hand, defended the move, saying that while the government will incur a revenue loss of at least P13 billion, Filipino consumers will save over P67 billion when pork prices are lowered.