World Trade Center, Pasay City
July 5, 2023

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. expressed his optimism regarding the trial result of the African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine sourced from Vietnam, which the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has found to produce sufficient antibodies and to be safe for use, in his remarks during the opening ceremony of the Livestock and Aquaculture Philippines 2023 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

“This gives us great hope as we have been waiting for this for a very long time. However, it is not a reason for complacency as we have been continuously warned by those who have studied the vaccine. The vaccine is 80% effective and there is a 20% that we need to look out for very carefully,” the President said.

He stated that the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is on track to issue a certificate of product registration for the said vaccines while Phase Two trials are underway.

Moreover, as the government accelerates its procurement process to acquire vaccines to address the spread of ASF and Avian Influenza, the President urged manufacturers to register their products with the FDA while guidelines to administer the vaccines are being finalized.

Meanwhile, the Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) — a three-year program launched in 2022 to aid the swine industry recover faster from ASF and revive the sector — has already assisted more than 430 farmers cooperatives and associations, with more than 13,000 members and an estimated 27,500 individual farmers.

“As we identify our shortcomings and acknowledge that there is much work left to do, we at the Department of Agriculture shall continue to forge partnerships with the academe and private sector to devise solutions to eradicate these diseases that continue to wreak havoc on our livestock and poultry sub-sectors,” he said.

As concurrent DA Secretary, President Marcos Jr. urged all concerned government agencies and stakeholders to engage in productive dialogue and share best practices and technologies to advance the country’s poultry and livestock industries.

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