Sen. Villar wants 2 separate DA officials for livestock industry

Senator Cynthia Villar on Thursday told the Department of Agriculture that there should be two officials who will separately oversee the regulation and development of the livestock industry.

She made the remark during the Senate agriculture, food, and agrarian reform committee hearing on bills on the livestock development in the country.

During the presentation of Undersecretary for Livestock William Medrano, the DA proposed to have an assistant secretary for livestock regulation and another assistant secretary for livestock development.

They will be supervised by the undersecretary for livestock who is working under the Agriculture secretary.

But Villar wanted to make two undersecretary positions for regulation and development.

“‘Di ko magustuhan ‘yang mga proposal niyo na may secretary, undersecretary, may assistant secretary. Bago ma-implement e katagal-tagal. I would rather that you separate ‘yung regulatory at separate ang developmental. Walang pakialam ‘yung developmental sa regulatory,” Villa, who chairs the panel, said.

(I don't like your proposal where there is a secretary, undersecretary, assistant secretary. Before you could implement the program, it will need to go through several offices. I would rather separate the regulatory from the developmental. The developmental should be completely separated from the regulatory office.)

She explained that the problem was no one wants to be assigned in the developmental office for the livestock industry because revenues were in the regulatory side as it covers the importation of meat in the country.

In proving her point, she cited the Philippine Carabao Center and the National Dairy Authority, saying the mandate of the two agencies are to develop products for the country.

“Tingnan mo ‘yang Philippine Carabao Center made in [1992], ‘yung isa [1995] that is [29] years and [26] years. Bakit naman ang ating milk production e one percent of demand? You’ve been in existence for more than [29] years and then ‘yung milk production, one percent of the demand, kung ako ang head niyan, magpapakamatay na ako kasi wala akong performance ‘di ba?” she said.

(Look at the Philippine Carabao Center. It is established in 1992 the other one is in 1995. These were established 29 and 26 years ago.  You've been in existence for more than 29 years and then the milk production was only one percent of the demand. If I am the head of that agency I would kill myself because of my dismal performance.)

Villar said the development of livestock industry is being neglected because there are many levels of bureaucracy within the department.

While she noted that the developmental aspect of the livestock industry is not being prioritized, Villar also pointed out that the regulation of meat products was not given importance.

“Tapos napabayaan din ang regulatory kasi ang pinag-aawayan ay ‘yung importation e wala palang control on disease, walang border control. How can you have existed…nang wala kayong border control on disease?” she told DA.

(The regulatory aspect was also neglected. They are arguing over the volume of importation but there is no disease control system in place. There is no border control. How could you have existed without a border control on disease?)

“So you see that there is wrong priority parang laging pinagtatalunan kung magkano ang import e tapos pag nag-import ‘di naman ma-control ‘yung disease that comes with the import kaya ayan nagka-[African Swine Fever] tayo,” she said.

(So you see that there is wrong priority. They are always in conflict when it comes to the amount of the imports but they cannot control the disease that comes with the import. That's why we had ASF in our country.)

Villar likewise proposed to provide separate accounts for livestock development and regulation once it will be funded by the government.

She said this will help the government in monitoring the implementation of programs and projects.

“If you create a fund diretso kung sinong particular [office] ang mag-iimplement, para pag ‘di niya na-implement yon, makikita natin,” she said.

(If you create a fund, it should be placed in a particular office which is in charge of the implementation so that we could monitor if they did not implement the project.)

Medrano agreed to the senator’s proposal.

The Senate panel has tackled five bills related to livestock industry development.

In May 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire country under state of calamity due to ASF, which has crippled the country's hog industry.

At the latter part of 2021, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the ASF cases in the country had already declined.—LDF, GMA News