As ASF soars and pork shortage looms, vaxx pushed By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
& Raadee S. Sausa
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THE WORLD ›› A6
RUSSIAN ATTACKS IN UKRAINE CONTINUE AMID POPE’S EASTER PLEAS FOR PEACE
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GROUP of farmers blames what it called the unlimited and untested importation of pork into the Philippines for the continued spread of African swine fever (ASF) in the country, with the surge sparking fears of a pork shortage. This has prompted a senior lawmaker on Monday to urge the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to consider a nationwide immunization drive to contain
the killer pig disease. For its part, the biggest alliance of farm producers sought hefty aid for their sector. “The government should look into providing assistance for local hog raisers and farmers, as there is no indemnification being given,” Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) Executive Director Jayson Cainglet said on Monday. “It will not matter if you impose movement protocols and biosecurity measures in local farms and transport of live hogs if we continue to have unlimited entry of untested
imported pork at the port of first entry,” he said. “Local producers, especially backyard hog raisers, are facing severe difficulties when it comes to ASF protocols; but our ports are open to imported pork where no ASF tests are being conducted,” Cainglet added. He noted that “since late last year, private and local government units [in the case of Cebu] were the ones compensating backyard farmers hit by ASF. Why is it that the enthusiasm and zest to support and protect pork importers is not seen
for local raisers?” Maybe, he said, “local hog raisers can instead be the ones given assistance.” Cainglet wondered aloud whether authorities intend to “wait for all the pork in the country to be exhausted? Or is that what they want?”
All regions hit
MEANWHILE, the DA said all regions in the country were affected by ASF, save for Metro Manila which has no hog raisers in the region. See “ASF,” A2
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DIOKNO TOUTS ECONOMIC
DATA OF PHL BEFORE IMF
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By Raadee S. Sausa
MID the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing global uncertainties, the Philippines has transformed into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Monday.
“The Philippines did not sit idly by and wait for the virus to fade. Instead it adopted new laws to open up the economy to foreign investors and make the economy vibrant and competitive,” Diokno said at the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetar y Fund spring meeting. The economic numbers support the positive outlook, he asserted. “The Philippine economy grew by 7.6 percent in 2022, the highest in 46 years, exceeding the growth assumption of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent by the Development Budget Coordination Committee [DBCC],” the secretary said. Furthermore, the 2022 GDP (gross domestic product) growth exceeded the median forecast of local private sector analysts (7.5 percent) and economic projections by the IMF (6.5 percent), the World Bank (7.2 percent), A sea n+3 Macroeconom ic Re -
search Office (7.3 percent) and the Asian Development Bank (7.4 percent), he added. Growth was broad-based, with all sectors growing despite the increase in world and domestic commodity prices. Services grew by 9.2 percent, industry by 6.7 percent, and agriculture by 0.5 percent, the finance chief said. “The growth drivers on the demand side include household consumption, government spending, investment, and net export,” Diokno said. Household consumption is also expected to grow significantly because of a better jobs market, direct measures to ease price pressures, lower income tax rates because of the TR AIN Law, continued growth in overseas Filipino remittances, and targeted interventions to preserve purchasing power. See “Diokno,” A2
PHILIPPINES TRIES TO BRING BACK SMALL FISH KEY TO RURAL DIET
PHL social security systems must be more portable–PIDS By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
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(ABOVE) A fisherman inspects fish caught using the beach seine method at the coastal waters off Tanauan, Leyte. (Top) Fish are laid out to dry at a beach in Tanauan, Leyte, October 27, 2022. AP/AARON FAVILA By Joel Calupitan & Patrick Whittle The Associated Press
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ANAUAN, Leyte—The Philippines, a nation made up of thousands of islands, is home to about 1.6 million people who work in fisheries, and the majority of those fishers are small-scale harvesters who collectively catch almost half of the nation’s fish. Years of market pressures,
lack of fisheries management and unchecked overfishing from larger commercial fishers have led to a decline in small fish such as sardines that rural coastal communities in the country of about 110 million people depend on. Data is not available on the state of many fish stocks, but the conservation group Oceana has said more than 75 percent of the nation’s fishing grounds are depleted. Continued on A5
HE government social security systems must become more portable in order for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to access them in their time of need abroad, according to local researchers. This was among the recommendations in a policy note published by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) authored by University of the Philippines Diliman Associate Professor Jocelyn O. Celero as well as De La Salle University associate professor Melissa R. Garabiles and assistant professor Evangeline O. KatigbakMontoya. The researchers said this is crucial since migrant workers do not enjoy healthcare benefits in host countries because of the absence of bilateral agreements, among other reasons. “The government needs to establish greater portability mechanisms for PhilHealth, SSS, PagIBIG, and OW WA. Increasing ease in paying contributions [e.g., through digitization] and minimizing paperwork could boost and sustain interest in membership,” the authors said.
This can be done, the researchers said, by investing in a unified database for accessing records of all OFWs as well as the creation of a portal for all related services. They added that the government must also provide a multipurpose identification card for OFWs to ease system transactions. Greater effort must also be exerted in periodically updating government’s social media accounts to educate OFWs and counter fake news regarding their health and health benefits. They also recommended that receiving countries’ healthcare professionals be trained to effectively communicate health and social services to migrants in the language they understand. Further, PhilHealth should also establish regional physical offices in countries that are densely populated by OFWs, complemented with a virtual office or a hotline. “The Philippines should actively pursue bilateral agreements with destination countries. Policymakers, academics, nongovernment organizations, and migrant workers should collaborate to build more inclusive health and social security systems post-pandemic and beyond,” the authors said. See “PHL,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 54.5760 n JAPAN 0.4143 n UK 68.2527 n HK 6.9529 n CHINA 7.9360 n SINGAPORE 41.1708 n AUSTRALIA 36.8497 n EU 59.8044 n KOREA 0.0416 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.5517 Source: BSP (April 5, 2023)