“Sa protein side, ‘yun, medyo pilit tayo because when it comes to pork, ‘yung ASF (African Swine Fever) talaga natin hindi natin…makontrol for various reasons,” said Marcos during his first-ever press briefing as President.
[Translation: On the protein side, we are really forced to because when it comes to pork, we cannot control ASF for various reasons.]
Local hog producers are still recovering from the impact of the ASF, which has affected the industry since 2019.
“On the broiler side, the chicken production, broiler production, we will also still have to import because nagka-problema na naman tayo sa [we again encountered problems with the] feed,” said the chief executive, referring to chicken feed supply problems flagged by poultry producers.
The country’s production of rice, corn, livestock, and fisheries is “not sufficient” according to Marcos, hence the reason why he made agriculture his highest priority.
Marcos currently leads the Department of Agriculture.
While short-term solutions like increasing production just in time for this year’s harvest season can be accomplished, he emphasized the need for long-term answers.
“We no longer take care of the symptoms, we take care of the disease. And that’s what we are trying to do in agri,” said Marcos, emphasizing anew the need to “rebuild” the sector’s value chain from research and development to retail.
“Hopefully (it) gets to the point that we can retail these agricultural products at a good price that’s affordable to people,” added the President.
Marcos has earlier proposed bringing down the price of rice to ₱20 per kilo which, according to his DA predecessor William Dar, can only be done with increased funding and higher buffer stock.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 5) — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. says imports of meat remain necessary as the country must still strengthen food production.
