KIDAPAWAN CITY – Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol announced Friday the relief of the entire quarantine group at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for perceived lapse in his standing order against entry of pork products from foreign areas affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF).
In his Facebook page, Piñol said he “will issue the relief order today (Friday) even as I am here in the Bicol Region personally assessing the damage of Tropical Depression Usman and ensuring prompt interventions.”
He said the order is “effective 5 p.m. today for their (NAIA quarantine personnel’s) failure to comply with an earlier order I issued to institute quarantine protocols to prevent entry of pork products from areas affected by the ASF.”
On the same day, Piñol added, he would direct the Department of Agriculture’s internal administrative service (IAS) to investigate the relieved personnel and possible filing of charges against them for “dereliction of duty.”
“The relief of the whole Quarantine Team at the NAIA should send a clear message to members of the Department of Agriculture (DA) family that we cannot take Administrative Directives for granted,” he pointed out.
He recalled that shortly before the holidays, he had ordered Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) acting director Ronnie Domingo “to ensure that footbaths and other Quarantine measures are established in all entry points of the country as the dreaded ASF, a disease killing pigs in at least eight countries, was reported spreading in China” as early as last year.
Under the earlier directive, all quarantine stations have been mandated to establish footbaths on all entry points in the country, intercept, and confiscate all pork-based products suspected of being affected by ASF, he said.
Piñol said he learned on Thursday about a media report quoting agriculture advocate Rosendo So as complaining about the lack of such quarantine procedures at the NAIA, the country’s main airport.
He said that in an instant call, BAI acting chief Domingo “admitted that the NAIA Quarantine Group failed to establish the footbath facility ‘because of procurement issues’ and it was the only station which failed to implement the order.”
In the enforcement of all existing directives, Piñol said, he “will never accept alibis” that usually emanate from Filipino workers found remiss of official duties.
“As Secretary of Agriculture who is in charge of the implementation of these measures, I apologize to stakeholders of the hog industry for this administrative lapse,” the former journalist-turned-cabinet official said.
He also thanked Rosendo So for his vigilance in reporting the lapse and urged other citizens to “help us monitor the entry of pork and pork products from the affected countries.”
The DA chief posted some photos in his Facebook page showing some suspected ASF-affected products being set for public destruction in strategic places.
Meanwhile, pork meat and by-product vendors in this city have lauded their “kasimanwa” (fellow resident) for prompt intervention. (Ali G. Macabalang)
