The Philippines ''is winning'' the fight against African Swine Fever (ASF), a Department of Agriculture (DA) official said on Sunday.

“We’re winning the battle of this war against the ASF. The war has not been won yet, but we are getting there,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes said in a radio interview on Sunday.

Reyes, the department spokesman, said the number of areas affected by ASF has significantly reduced since 2019.

"The ASF is still there but the incidents have declined. There are less than 60 barangays out of the highest (incidence) of 3,000 in 2019 and there are many areas that we already declared as ASF free. Several areas have also been declared ASF-free. Now, we continue to implement biosecurity, and quarantine protocols," he said.

"If the hogs are sick it should be immediately reported to the provincial veterinarian to ascertain if it is caused by ASF. It should be culled and buried properly," he added.

Reyes said as part of the government's effort to address the ASF in the country, the DA is coordinating with the United States in testing two brands of vaccines against ASF.

"We are testing two vaccines from the US. We hope to get good results in a few months. Like in COVID-19, only vaccines can eradicate the ASF, and maintain proper medical protocols or biosecurity for the animal sector," he said.

The DA also announced on Sunday that it is set to pay in full all farmers whose hogs were culled due to the ASF through its regional field offices (RFOs).

"Since the ASF outbreak in 2019, the DA-RFOs and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), in partnership with local government units (LGUs), have been paying P5,000 for every culled pig of backyard raisers in ASF-infected areas," it stated.

"In all, the DA has received a total of P2.158-billion request to indemnify affected backyard hog raisers, of which P1.697 billion has already been paid to 48,530 farmer-beneficiaries, who owned 379,420 culled hogs," the DA said.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said "the remaining amount of P461 million is set to be released to indemnify the remaining backyard raisers, who owned roughly 92,200 culled hogs." Robina Asido/DMS