The inclusion of a ₱1 billion Bio-Safe biosecurity enforcement program in the 2026 Department of Agriculture (DA) budget will strengthen the government’s anti-smuggling and food crisis efforts, Senator Kiko Pangilinan said.
“The line item aims to strengthen disease surveillance, border controls, and on-ground enforcement against threats such as ASF and avian influenza. These outbreaks have previously driven up food prices and wiped out livelihoods,” said Pangilinan, a member of the bicameral conference committee on the 2026 national budget.
Pangilinan, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, explained that the Bio-Safe program includes biosafety, biosecurity, and surveillance (BSS&S) measures across crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries in farms, laboratories, and facilities.
The program issues containment protocols, updates surveillance, implements engineering controls, and standardizes procedures for handling biological agents. Measures may include perimeter fencing, climate-controlled animal houses, waste management systems, and shower areas for livestock.
“As they say, ‘Prevention is better than cure.’ Every outbreak we fail to prevent becomes a huge price Filipino families are forced to pay,” Pangilinan said, noting that delayed responses to outbreaks like ASF and avian influenza have historically driven up food prices and caused massive losses for farmers.
ASF alone wiped out an estimated five million pigs, caused at least ₱200 billion in losses, and reduced the national hog inventory by over 20 percent, while avian influenza outbreaks have led to poultry culls and localized spikes in chicken and egg prices.
“We always scramble after the damage is done. This budget seeks to stop the damage from happening at all,” Pangilinan said.
He added that Bio-Safe will also help curb food smuggling by tightening sanitary and phytosanitary controls on imports, requiring close coordination between the DA and Bureau of Customs.
“Our biosecurity spending must be paired with strict accountability to ensure funds translate into real protection on farms, ports, and borders,” Pangilinan said.