Senator Cynthia Villar seeks to advance the development, promotion and competitiveness of the Livestock, Poultry and Dairy Industries in the country by the passage of Senate Bill No. 2558, under Committee Report No. 193 or “An Act Strengthening the Livestock, Poultry and Dairy Development and Competitiveness, Rationalizing the Organization and Functions of Relevant Government Agencies, Creating a Competitiveness Enhancement Fund Therefor.”
These industries play a significant role in food security, and account for more than a quarter of agricultural output in 2023.
Pork and chicken accounts for approximately 29.8% percent of the Filipino protein consumption. The high cost of these commodities, making them unaffordable to most Filipinos, may lead to protein deficiency and contribute to malnutrition.
Imported milk in the country accounts for 99 percent of supply which makes milk unavailable and unaffordable to our growing population.
“Local milk production is struggling and needs a boost to able to cope with and address the local demand.”
“Local milk production is struggling and needs a boost to able to cope with and address the local demand, especially on the milk feeding programs in our schools and other institutions that take care of our children,” Villar noted.
The hog sector in the country is still struggling against the African Swine Fever outbreak since 2019 and needs to bounce back to support small hold raisers and commercial farms to support basic food needs for pork. The ASF is responsible for the P100-billion loss to the sector.
The poultry sector also needs sustainable inputs such as feeds, medicines against pest and diseases and more efficient production systems.
“For the longest time, the LPD sector has been left to be run by the private sector.”
“For the longest time, the LPD sector has been left to be run by the private sector, now with this Act, the government will actively support and participate in the development of the sector,” the veteran legislator noted.
The Livestock, Poultry and Dairy Development aims to put in place –
1. Philippine Livestock, Poultry and Dairy Value Chain Road Map which shall serve as a guidepost in the priority setting for the development, modernization, protection, and promotion of the LPD Industry, with the aim in view of attaining food security and combating rural poverty.
2. The Office of the Undersecretary of the National Livestock, Poultry, Dairy and Other Animals Program shall be created to establish policies for the development of the country’s Livestock, Poultry, Dairy, and other Animals sector.
3. For clarity and focus of purpose, the development of the LPD shall be under the Bureau of Animal Industry and the Regulatory functions shall be lodged with under the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) which shall be renamed as the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Inspection (BARI).
4. The government, through the BAI, with funds from our tariff earnings, will strengthen the system of preventing and addressing the outbreak of diseases in the LPD sector.
5. Our native animals, such as hogs, chicken, horses, carabaos, among others, will not only be preserved but promoted and their population multiplied.
6. The National Dairy Authority or NDA shall be the central policy determining, developmental and regulatory body tasked to ensure the acceleration of the local dairy industry.
7. The Philippine Carabao Center shall develop a holistic program to address the needs of farmers and their cooperatives in the breeding, dairy farm management of dairy buffaloes, including forage development and increasing the herd population.
8. Establishment of an inventory of LPD Farms and dairy herd. This LPD Registry System shall have the master list of the eligible farmer beneficiaries and shall be lodged with the DA in consultation with the industry and the LGUs.
9. Creation of the Livestock, Poultry and Dairy Competitiveness Enhancement Fund from tariff collected on imported LPD products which shall consist of P7.8 billion annually for the next 10 years. This fund is over and above the regular funding under the National Livestock program of the DA in the General Appropriations Act.
A mandatory review by the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM) and the PIDS shall be conducted to come up with an impact evaluation of this Act.
