Quezon City Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo on Sunday urged Agriculture Secretary William Dar to name the processed meat products that have tested positive for the African swine fever.
She said the Agriculture department must be transparent for the welfare of the consumers.
To keep the buying public guessing could only “fuel unnecessary ASF scare on all these products that could affect supply and prices,” Castelo said.
“We don’t want this to happen especially when millions of our countrymen are about to celebrate the Christmas season.”
Castello, the vice chairman of the Metro Manila development committee, said the demand for canned goods and processed meat for Christmas was high among Filipinos, particularly those from Metro Manila.
“The DA should also identify the goods not contaminated with ASF,” Castelo said.
“So the DA should be transparent as public welfare and the meat businesses are of paramount concern. Doing so would also protect the industry not affected by the ASF.”