According to Escudero, the importation of carabao meat started during the time of then Agriculture Secretary Roberto Sebastian, but said he ordered it stopped when he took over as chief executive of the department.

He said the main reason he stopped the importation of carabao meat during his time is that he is fully aware that many small farmers are being adversely affected and may eventually lose their livelihood if the country would continue to acquire meat supply from other countries.

He said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should be extra careful in allowing the importation of meat — be it carabao, pork or chicken — from other countries.

Escudero said that what the country’s livestock industry needs are not short-term and palliative solutions but long-term plans that would benefit especially Filipinos whose livelihood depends largely on livestock and hog-raising.

The former agriculture secretary, who also served as director of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) for several years, also said that Indian buffalo meat is not safe from foot and mouth disease (FMD) as he said that a thorough investigation should immediately be conducted on why some DA officials are themselves doing the manipulative works to allow the entry of imported meat into the country.

As this developed, Lito Hizon, president of Livestock Raisers Association of Pandi (LRAP), assailed the present DA leadership as alleged anomalies continue to hound the department following an exposè on the reported involvement of two of its top officials in "technical smuggling."

Hizon said it is not only the legal importaton of meat that is killing the country’s livestock industry but also the rampant technical smuggling that are being done with the use of recycled documents, specifically importation permits.