CEBU CITY, Philippines — There’s a need for uniform interpretation of guidelines for delivery vehicles transporting essential commodities at border checkpoints.
Rolando Tambago, president of Virginia Farms Inc. and of the Central Visayas Pork Producers Cooperative (CeVIPPCO), noted that their delivery vehicles encounter delays in transporting their products and feeds at different border checkpoints.
Tambago recalled that last Saturday, the vehicles experienced heavy traffic at the border of Mandaue City and Consolacion because of the very strict inspection conducted on all vehicles passing the area.
He added that those manning the checkpoint at the border of Mandaue City and Consolacion had also confiscated the food pass of one of their company’s delivery vehicles.
However, he said he was able to get back the food pass after he coordinated with Consolacion Mayor Joaannes Alegado.
According to Tambago, he learned that those manning the border checkpoints have been very strict because there were some vehicles using allegedly fake food passes.
He then cited the need to address this concern to prevent further delays in the delivery of essential commodities.
Tambago explained that for Cebu-based commercial hog farms alone, a total of 2,600 live hogs are brought daily to different slaughterhouses in Cebu City, Mandaue City and Minglanilla. After which, the slaughtered hogs will be brought to different outlets, he added.
Also, feeds have to be delivered to different commercial hog farms, among others, to feed a total of 300,000 hogs in Cebu, Tambago pointed out.
He admitted that there were misunderstandings with regards to the implementation of the guidelines but he hoped that the provincial capitol would be able to address this concern.
According to Tambago, he would be visiting the provincial capitol on Wednesday so he could get details on and apply for a cargo vehicle pass, which is now required for transporting essential commodities.
Meanwhile, the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines, Inc. (ProPork) expressed their gratitude to Agriculture Secretary William Dar and the Department of Agriculture for their efforts to help ensure continuous supply of produce during the enhanced community quarantine period.
“We support the DA and Secretary Dar in their endeavors and are grateful to have a voice in the IATF-EID (Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases) through Secretary Dar because our concerns under ECQ are being addressed,” according to the statement of support posted on Tambago’s Facebook page. Tambago is the ProPork vice president for the Visayas.
Dar had made representation with the IATF-EID to allow the passage of essential supplies such as feeds, raw materials, packaging materials and even the farm workers going to their production facilities.
“His efforts to have our workers classified as frontliners/backliners and allow our trucks carrying our products and raw materials to ensure unhampered access to and from our farms to the markets are truly appreciated. Food is an essential commodity to sustain the needs of everyone especially during the ECQ period,” according to ProPork./rcg