DA eyes location for Bio-Safe facility in Subic Bay Freeport

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is considering to locate a Bio-Safe facility in this premier Freeport zone to ensure the security of agriculture, fisheries, and fertilizer supply chains against risks of smuggling and disease. 

Early this week, the DA-Inspectorate and Enforcement (DA-IE) unit, led by Undersecretary Carlos Carag met with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) officials represented by Chief-of-Staff Atty. Von F. Rodriguez, at the corporate boardroom of the administration building, where the former discussed its mandate to establish a Bio-Safe facility or an examination facility in strategic locations in the country. 

The said facility is part of the government’s initiatives for the ₱1-billion Bio-Safe biosecurity program for 2026, which aims to examine all agricultural products before they are even allowed entry through the piers and go through Bureau of Customs (BOC) processes.

 

According to the DA Inspectorate and Enforcement Unit, the department is eyeing the establishment of such facilities at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), the Port of Subic, and the Port of Davao as part of the first phase of the said program.

 

The Bio-Safe biosecurity program aims to strengthen border controls, enhance on-ground enforcement against smuggling, and prevent food supply disruptions and price shocks.

 

Its core objectives include preventing disease outbreaks, specifically targeting transboundary animal diseases such as African Swine Fever (ASF) and Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) to prevent supply shocks and price spikes.

 

Another objective is to strengthen border control by enhancing the detection rate of agricultural smuggling, tightening sanitary/phytosanitary filters on imports, and economic protection, which aims to avoid massive industry losses, such as the estimated ₱200 billion lost due to past ASF outbreaks. (MPD-SBMA) 

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BPI sets up border control for agri products in Subic port

In its effort to provide a better and more efficient way to safeguard the agricultural industry in the country, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) inaugurated its Plant Quarantine Service (PQS) office here Tuesday morning. 

DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño led the inauguration of the National Plant Quarantine Services Division (NPQSD) office at the Subic Bay Freeport on Tuesday.

According to Laurel, the NPQSD office aims to prevent the entry of foreign pests into the country via the Subic port, contain and minimize the spread of pests already existing in the country, and comply with the phytosanitary requirements of trading partners. 

“Today, we are making substantial progress in our aim to guarantee the well-being of our agriculture industry and the prosperity of our farmers,” Laurel said.

“The establishment of this new office in Subic holds a significant importance due to its position as a prominent center for trade and logistics. Let us continuously improve our border control system with increased efficiency and effectiveness,” he added.

SBMA Chairman Aliño welcomed this gesture from the BPI’s NPQSD since it would help foil the smuggling of illegal agricultural products in the Freeport.

He added that the agencies involved, including the Bureau of Customs (BOC), are all working in line with President Marcos’ thrust to combat agricultural smuggling, providing a digitized government service, and ensuring proper border control.

DA BPI Director Gerald Glenn Panganiban has requested the BOC to order all imports of plant-based agricultural commodities go through the PQO at the respective ports for mandatory document verification and inspection.

Customs Memorandum Circular (CMC) No. 102-2024 signed on June 7 by Customs commissioner Bienvenido Rubio states that this is a requirement regardless of the categories that the plant-based agricultural commodities may fall under.

The procedure is in compliance with the provisions stated in DA’s Department Circular No. 4 series of 2016, which provides guidelines on the importation of plants, planting materials, and plant products for commercial purposes.

Under Article VI Section 23 of the DA circular, the plant commodities are subject to the existing procedures for inspection at the port of entry.

 The NPQSD cited that upon the arrival of the consignment, the importer should apply for inspection (BPI Q Form No. 4) at the PQS office in the port of entry. The importer should provide pertinent documents during inspection, while samples of the commodity will also be collected for laboratory analysis. (MPD-SBMA)

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SBMA now requires vaccination cards for Subic entry

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Monday began checking for vaccination cards among persons entering the Subic Bay Freeport to prevent further transmission of Covid-19 in the area and maintain the health and safety of stakeholders in this vital economic zone.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said this is just one of the stricter measures implemented by the Subic agency after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) placed Olongapo City, along with Zambales, Bataan and 11 other areas in the country, under Alert Level 3 late last week.

Under the new SBMA guidelines, interzonal travel and intrazonal movement are allowed in Subic upon presentation of vaccination certificate showing completed doses. Meanwhile, unvaccinated persons would have to show negative RT-PCR test results taken with 24 hours prior to arrival in Subic, Eisma said.

Subic, which boasted of zero Covid-19 cases among its residents until Christmas day, had reported a total of 36 active cases just after the holidays.

“The rate of increase—36 cases in just two weeks—is quite alarming, so in consonance with IATF resolutions, we have put in place stricter border controls and prohibited certain activities that could further spread the virus,” Eisma said on Monday.

“I have ordered our law enforcement officers to be thorough in checking for vaccination cards at the gates because we cannot afford another lockdown that would curtail business and industry in Subic. We have to be strict because we have to keep the local economy running, too,” she added.

Eisma said the SBMA has considered interzonal travel as high risk because eight of the recent Covid-19 cases in the Freeport involved residents who reported travel to Metro Manila, while five said having visited other areas outside of the Freeport.

She added that monitoring by the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department showed that these 13 travelers had, in turn, transmitted the virus to 12 close contacts. Still two others were infected after receiving visitors from outside Subic.

Eisma said that aside from requiring vaccination cards at the gates, the SBMA also limited the access of some public areas only to fully-vaccinated individuals. These include venues for meetings and social events, amusement parks and recreation venues, visitor or tourist attractions, venues for in-person religious gatherings, as well as restaurants, and gyms and personal care shops, which should all take in customers at 30% of their indoor capacity and 50% for outdoors.

Unvaccinated persons, however, may be allowed in supermarkets and groceries where 30% maximum capacity should be maintained, and inside malls but “only for the purpose of accessing essential goods and services,” the SBMA chief said.

At the same time, the SBMA allowed 70% maximum capacity for public transportation; 30% indoor capacity for face-to-face classes in higher schools; and 60% on-site capacity for government offices.

Meanwhile, the SBMA prohibited the operation of karaoke bars, indoor entertainment venues, kid amusement places, and venues for contact sports except in bubble-type setup.

Eisma said the Subic agency will enforce other measures that will arrest the current surge of Covid-19 cases in the greater Subic Bay area while encouraging stakeholders to get vaccinated for either basic doses or booster shots.

“We intend to contain this upsurge with vaccines and sound science behind basic safety protocols like masking, handwashing and social distancing,” Eisma added. (MPD-SBMA)

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SBMA warns vs travel, exposure to visitors

 Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma warned against travel to other places and accepting visitors from areas with raging new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections, as authorities noted a new surge in positive cases here and in nearby communities.

Eisma said on Thursday (July 23) that the Subic agency is now strictly monitoring the entry of persons from Metro Manila and other Covid-19 hot spots after three Subic residents, as well as eight Freeport guests so far, tested positive of the virus recently. 

“Our sentries manning the Freeport gates are now asking for ID’s and documents that would indicate the residence of visitors, and if they were from Manila or any other area with high Covid incidence, then they would have to present health certificates,” Eisma said.

“We are also asking residents in the Freeport to be conscientious about accepting visitors, especially those from MECQ or GCQ areas, as we have traced the recent cases to exposure to visitors or travel to certain Covid hot spots,” she added.

Eisma pointed out that there has not been any community transmission recorded in the Subic Freeport, which has strictly restricted entry since the Luzon-wide quarantine was imposed last March. “So these new cases can only be attributed to outside contacts. These are imported infections,” she added.

According to the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department (SBMA-PHSD), a total of 11 confirmed cases have been recorded in the Subic Freeport just recently, after it was placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).

Among Freeport residents, the first case was that of a 22-year old female, who received a visitor from Manila; the second, a 42-year old male, who had travelled to Laguna; and the third, a 38-year old male, who had no history of travel but is suspected to have been exposed to a visitor.

Meanwhile, a total of eight guests had tested positive while staying at a house in the Freeport. These included two visitors from Quezon City; three from Subic, Zambales; one from Palauig, Zambales; and two from Olongapo City. 

Two of these infected guests reportedly left the Freeport for Manila even before their test results came out. The rest, who are all asymptomatic, remained here on quarantine and under close monitoring by health workers, the SBMA-PHSD said.

The latest local cases traced to travel outside the Freeport were those of five members of the SBMA security force, who are suspected to have been exposed while in Manila.

Eisma said three of these personnel had remained under quarantine in Manila, while one was admitted into a local hospital last Tuesday (July 21), and the other into an SBMA care and isolation facility, along with three members of his family whose RT-PCR tests also turned positive. 

All of their significant contacts had been traced and have been scheduled for swabbing, Eisma said.

She added that the five security personnel are suspected to have been infected by a co-worker while eating together as a group in Manila.

“So this should be a lesson that we cannot be complacent and take the Covid-19 infections for granted, and that we could have a false sense of security when we are with friends or associates. The truth is, we can never tell who is infectious because a lot of positives are asymptomatic,” Eisma stressed.

Communities near the Subic Bay Freeport have also reported new Covid-19 cases following the easing of travel restrictions when they were placed under MGCQ. 

Zambales, which has recorded a total of 45 confirmed cases, reported five new ones on Thursday, July 23. Three had history of travel to Manila, one to Bulacan, and another to Quezon City.

Olongapo City, which has reported a total of 23 confirmed cases, announced three more on Wednesday, July 22 — all related to a person with a history of travel to Manila. (MPD-SBMA) 

PHOTO:

A traffic enforcer checks motorists coming into the Subic Bay Freeport as part of border controls during the community quarantine.

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