GOVERNMENT agencies need to act in concert to contain African Swine Fever (ASF), including expediting the release of subsidies to aid in the vaccination effort, due to the urgent need to manage inflation, the Department of Finance (DoF) said.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the DoF said it called for measures to control ASF after the Economic Development Group and the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook discussed measures on Sept. 25 to contain inflation.
“To manage food inflation, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) called on the implementing agencies to employ supply-augmenting programs and enforce disease control measures, including the rollout of ASF vaccines and the adoption of Integrated Pest Management technologies for sugar,” the DoF said in a statement.
During the meeting, the Department of Agriculture said it is looking at other means of toughening biosecurity measures against ASF.
Among the measures against non-food inflation, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board said it wants to partner with major payment services providers to validate its master list of fuel subsidy beneficiaries. These beneficiaries will be eligible to buy cheap fuel to ease the pressure on the government to approve fare hikes. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz