“ Domingo’s barren statement that it is safe for humans to eat pork tainted with the ASF virus is not enough. He must explain how and why he arrived at that conclusion.

The African swine fever (ASF) virus problem reveals that there are officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Health (DoH) who think that Filipino consumers are gullible.

On 15 October 2019, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), which is an agency of the DA, conducted a laboratory test on certain processed pork meat products under the supervision of BAI veterinary laboratory division officer-in-charge Dr. Cristina Legaspi. They found that the samples of the hotdogs, longganisa and tocino of a popular brand of processed meat products tested positive for the ASF virus. The corresponding report was noted and signed by the division chief, Dr. Rosemarie Antegro.

A copy of the report, with the brand name of the tested products blotted out, reached the media more than a week later. After the report made it to the news, the public was aghast. The Philippine Association of Meat Processors demanded that the BAI reveal the brand name concerned, and rightly so, because the consuming public may launch a boycott of all processed pork meat products, including those that may not be positive for the ASF virus.

Instead of identifying the name of the meat processor to avoid a full-scale consumer boycott of a vital industry, DA spokesman Noel Reyes said the report should be authenticated first.

Huh? Doesn’t Reyes know that the report was already authenticated by Dr. Antegro?

Reyes may not know it, but he just labeled the laboratory test authenticated by Dr. Antegro as a possible bogus activity of the BAI.

That irresponsible statement by Reyes shows that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and he does not think before he speaks to the media, despite his status as a government spokesman. Evidently, his salary is a waste of public funds. Reyes should resign immediately.

If that’s not bad enough, it’s a worse situation over at the DoH.

On 24 October, Dr. Enrique Domingo, who is both DoH Undersecretary and officer-in-charge of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announced that “there is no threat to human health when products positive for ASF is (sic) eaten.” When Domingo made that statement, he admitted that he had not seen a copy of the BAI report.

Surprisingly, Domingo did not bother to explain how the consumption of meat products contaminated with a virus can be safe for human consumption. As an undersecretary of the DoH and the OIC of the FDA, it is incumbent upon Domingo to provide the public with the appropriate explanation.

Compared to a human, a pig has a stronger immune system. If a pig dies of ASF, that means it was not strong enough to fight off that virus. How then can a human fight off the ASF when a pig can’t even survive that viral infection?

An animal health organization says that even if the ASF virus is not fatal to humans, a human who consumes pork meat positive for the ASF virus can become a carrier of the virus. Isn’t the prospect of a human hosting a virus in his body enough reason to compel the DoH to make a more thorough study, before it arrives at and announces its sweeping conclusion that pork meat contaminated with the ASF virus is still safe for human consumption?

In other words, Domingo’s barren statement that it is safe for humans to eat pork tainted with the ASF virus is not enough. He must explain how and why he arrived at that conclusion, especially considering that a pig, which has a stronger immune system than that of a human, is vulnerable to the ASF virus, and that a human who consumes the contaminated meat becomes a carrier of the virus.

Perhaps, Domingo should get somebody else to do the speaking for the DoH and the FDA.

The statements made by Reyes and Domingo remind many of ex-DA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol. Amid the rice shortage in August 2018, Piñol told the public that it is safe to eat weevil-infested rice. Good grief!