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IF the prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic is not yet bad enough, there is also now a Senate proposal to put the entire country under a state of emergency due to an African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak, which has already cost about P50 billion in losses to the swine industry and pushed pork market prices higher. None of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) measures seem to be working.
On the motion of Senator Francis Pangilinan, the Senate moved that the Department of Agriculture (DA) recommend to the Office of the President the declaration of a state of emergency in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao because of ASF so that public funds may be realigned to address the state of emergency. The motion was duly seconded by Senator Nancy Binay and supported by the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, Senator Cynthia Villar.
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