BIZ BUZZ: Pork imports still a go
The holiday festivities are far from over—and so is the spread of fake news.
A social media post attributed to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. circulated recently, claiming that the government generates funds from pork importation to provide subsidies to the farm sector.
In a Facebook post, Tiu Laurel dismissed as “fake news” a quote and an art card posted by an online news site, saying it is not true and he never made such statements in recent interviews.
The art card said, “Hindi natin puwede itigil ang pag-import ng baboy, malulugi ang gobyerno, diyan tayo kumukuha ng pondo para may ayuda ng mga farmers natin.” (We cannot stop importing pork; the government would lose money. That is where we get funds to provide subsidies to help our farmers.)
If anything, the country may still need to rely on importation to meet the growing demand for pork. The swine industry has yet to fully recover from the animal disease, with inventory still far from pre-African swine fever levels.
