THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday that the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has issued show-cause orders to nine unlicensed hog farms in Central Luzon.
The farms in Bulacan, Pampanga, and Tarlac continue to operate “despite bypassing basic health, environmental, and safety regulations,” the DA said in a statement.
Their irregular operations “jeopardize national efforts to stabilize pork supply and pricing, especially as the country recovers from the lingering effects of African Swine Fever (ASF),” it added.
It said President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. had called for a crackdown on unregistered livestock facilities that “distort the food supply chain and threaten price stability.”
“As we modernize Philippine agriculture, everyone must understand that unlicensed operations will not be tolerated,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. said.
The BAI is currently evaluating responses from some of the farms, and further enforcement action may follow, the DA said.
The BAI has been instructed to assess the compliance of other hog farms across the country, it added. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza