La Union law makes digital registration of poultry, livestock groups mandatory 

ILOCOS NORTE, Philippines – La Union province has a new ordinance that mandates people and organizations involved in poultry, livestock, and agricultural farming to register on the provincial government’s digital list.

Based on Provincial Ordinance No. 423-2023, the provincial government now requires all “poultry and livestock raisers and poultry and livestock farm owners in each barangay to be registered and be included in the poultry and livestock mandatory registration in the province.”

The mandatory registration would cover those who maintain small-hold farms and semi-commercial and commercial farms of all poultry and livestock commodities.

For as long as any group of persons or private companies raise poultry and livestock for their consumption or commercial purposes, they are mandated to register in the barangay where they are raising poultry and livestock.

The provincial government said that all barangays in the province of La Union are also required to maintain and regularly update the digitalized list which would be developed by the Information Communication Technology Unit of the province.

An amount of P1 million to fund the coordination and logistics needs of the program would be set aside annually by the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian, the ordinance showed.

Why is it being imposed?

The new ordinance is meant to protect livestock and poultry farmers and ensure the continued food supply in La Union by controlling, preventing, and eradicating all poultry and livestock diseases in the province through easier monitoring, detection, and investigation of diseases through the list.

It is also seen to improve farm productivity by coming up with an “automated system” to facilitate data-driven farming practices for small farmers as provided by the One Department of Agriculture Reform Agenda Program, the provincial government said.

In 2021, the province was not spared from an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) which wrought havoc in the Ilocos region. Because of this, pork production in the province decreased by 30.84% from 15,881 in 2020 to 10,984 during the 2021 ASF outbreak, according to local data.

The livestock industry in the province has produced around 15,288 local jobs and generated an income of at least P15 million, according to the latest data from the provincial government. 

Aside from ASF, bird flu, or highly pathogenic avian influenza, was also detected in nearby provinces of Ilocos Norte and Pangasinan in 2022 which affected duck and layer chicken farms.

Both provinces, however, were cleared by the Department of Agriculture and declared free from the virus in October 2023.

Poultry and livestock raisers and farm owners who don’t register face a fine of P5,000 or imprisonment of not exceeding six months. All of these can be imposed at the discretion of the court for the first and succeeding infractions, the provincial government said. – Rappler.com