DEPARTMENT of Agriculture Undersecretary for Livestock Dr. William Medrano is known today as one of the stalwarts of Philippine agriculture. Proudly born to a family of farmers, he knew very early on in his life he wanted to be an agriculturist.

Graduating Cum Laude in Bachelor of Science in Agriculture at Isabela State University, he went on to complete his Masters and Doctorate in Animal Science from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños. A voracious learner, he joined a Post-Doctorate Fellowship at the International Agriculture Center in Wageningen, The Netherlands before finally putting all his knowledge in a passionate and lifelong advocacy. That is, to help develop the Philippines’ livestock industry any way he can in order to bring the country closer to food sufficiency.

As such, he immediately took on various roles upon returning to the country, first giving back to his alma mater at Isabela State University where he concurrently served as Professor 6 and Vice President for Research & Development, Extension and Training.

Around the same time, the private sector, as expected, also began reaching out to Medrano, which only widened his opportunities to pursue his advocacy. Eager to help the very stakeholders of the industry, he agreed to juggle his responsibilities at the university while also functioning as Executive Director at Cagayan Valley Agriculture Resources Research & Development Consortium (CVARRD) .

Before long, it became clear to Medrano that he can do more in government as he assumed the post of Bureau of Agricultural Research Director in 2003 where he led the agency in finding ways to improve the practices of the sector.

Given his impressive educational background, however, he heeded the call in 2005 when he was needed to serve as Executive Director of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) under the Aquino Administration. Successful initiating changes in the agency, he eventually assumed the highest post in the department as Commissioner in 2008.

Finally completing his call of duty in the education sector, Medrano returned to his base, as always, at Isabela State University and eagerly wore his devoted agriculturist hat anew.

Ever informed on the developments in the field even during his tenure at CHEd, the now prominent Cagayan Valley native jumped right back in his advocacy working across the industry with small poultry and hog raisers to those involved in the academe and private institutions. Like before, his repute and results raised his name to the national level and before long, President Rodrigo Duterte appointed him Assistant Secretary for Livestock in September 2019.

Quickly rising to the rank of Undersecretary at the Department of Agriculture in 2020, he continues to serve in this capacity, with DA Secretary and former The Manila Times columnist William Dar in charge of the entire agency.

Truly where he should be, Medrano humbly told The Sunday Times Magazine. “The challenging part for me here at the DA is the broad scope of my responsibilities. I oversee the Livestock agencies which comprise the Bureau of Animal Industry, the National Meat Inspection Service, the National Dairy Authority and the Philippine Carabao Center.”

Expounding on his functions, the Undersecretary continued, “As an oversight commissioner, I see to it that these four agencies are performing well in accordance to their mandates.

“And of course, I receive directives from the Secretary [too] and need to deliver on them as soon as possible,” he added.

Double virus

“When I assumed office, everything was working as normal,” Medrano recalled of his initial experience at the DA.

“[The Livestock agencies] were performing well and were focused on the implementation of existing programs throughout the country.”

A practical man who believes in the simple but sound saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the new Undersecretary only proceeded to identify what enhancements should be made in terms of policies and guidelines and when best to do so. Moreover, he paid particular attention in ensuring that the regional offices under his care provided the staff with conducive working environments, noting that this is key “for [our] people to perform well.”

And then the double virus hit — the coronavirus (Covid-19) which resulted in this persisting health and economic crisis around the world; and, in the Philippines— within Medrano’s very domain at the DA—the African Swine Fever (ASF) which threatened the livelihood of hograisers and the nation’s food security as a whole.

Exacerbating the immense challenges the pandemic already wrought, Medrano recalled the shocking and difficult situation forced upon the agency with the onslaught of ASF.

“When it entered the Philippines, [the virus] spread very, very fast. The DA was not well prepared for such a crisis but we immediately organized ourselves to contain the disease despite lacking in funds and resources,” he explained.

“We knew it was a virus but there is no cure and no vaccine [for ASF],” he added.

With the responsibility on his shoulders, Medrano sought his department’s support to raise the crisis with the national government, and, underlining its urgency, was able to procure emergency funds necessary to mount a more efficient and organized response to ASF.

While the disease remains to be the biggest problem of the DA’s Livestock Agency—more specifically, the Bureau of Animal Industry—Medrano designed and implemented a national program called “Bantay ASF sa Barangay.”

“We have been aggressive in implementing [this new strategy] up to now to contain, control and prevent the further spread of ASF. Bantay ASF sa Barangay is a comprehensive program that is ongoing implemented, through local government units at the provincial, municipal and even at the barangay levels,” the Undersecretary expounded.

“Their role and participation [at every level] is crucial in the fight against ASF. They are considered the first responders—the frontliners—in gaining control of the situation and we are very grateful that the LGUs have been very active and responsive to our call for help. They are committed and heavily engaged,” he added.

Breakthroughs

Since the very first outbreak of ASF, the DA immediately confirmed its presence in Luzon, Mindanao, Leyte and Samar Islands. Since then, the disease is recorded to have spread across to 12 regions, 46 provinces, 493 cities and municipalities and 2,561 villages, resulting in the loss of over three million hogs to date.

Thankfully, with the roll out of Bantay ASF sa Barangay, Medrano and his equally hardworking team are able to report significantly lowered cases of the disease across the country.

“In fact, ASF is now only concentrated the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Region 8,” the Undersecretary revealed. “We are working very hard and hoping that with all our efforts in our program and the support of the LGUs in these two regions, we will also be able to contain the disease over there, prevent any more spread and hopefully end the threat of ASF once and for all.

However, such breakthroughs in beating ASF were not the only deliverables Medrano had to make. For, while designing and rolling out the anti-ASF program nationwide, he and his skeletal force at the Livestock Department were also part of critical discussions, led by Secretary Dar, that would ensure the nation’s food security as the pandemic raged on.

According to Medrano, the biggest challenge in this case was logistics.

“Kasi, nahaharang yung mga trucks bringing food to Metro Manila from the provinces because of the lockdowns,” he explained. “But through our consorted effort—with everyone’s hard work and cross coordination with other government agencies—we were able to surmount all these problems. As you know, dumating naman ang mga pagkain – bigas, gulay, karne – at hindi naman pumila ang ating mga kababayan so we’ve been very successful in sustaining food supply in Metro Manila.”

Asked for the overall status of food supply across the country, Medrano confidently replied that it is stable, “except for pork due to ASF.”

“Unfortunately, the shortage of pork, especially in Metro Manila, markets led to spiked prices, which contributed to the increase of inflation rate,” he regrettably acknowledged.

“When we talk of poultry, we’re stable and we have adequate supply. And to caution the impact of [the pork shortage] — para hindi masyadong tumaas ang presyo and inflation

— we were able to convince the President to sign Executive Order 133 na magkaroon tayo ng additional minimum access volume (MAV) allocation so we can import additional pork and augment the supply within the short period.”

As a result, pork prices have been stable since ASF peaked, which, as Medrano fervently hopes will lead to reduced tariff on the product all while his breakthrough MAV allocation goes up. “Within these circumstances, bababa pa lalo ang presyo ng baboy,” he deduced.

‘INSPIREd’

Regardless of the unprecedented crises that befell Medrano so early in his appointment to the DA, he remains determined as ever to pursue his goals for the livestock industry and ultimately, the nation’s food security. The pandemic and ASF outbreaks may have stalled his ideal timeline but neither can put a stop to his long held purpose.

In fact, the programs he has had to come up with and continue to device and execute may have resulted from emergency situations, but they have strengthened both the department and the industry as a whole, initiating readiness moving forward.

Staying the course, Medrano further shared with The Sunday Times Magazine another major program under the Livestock Agency and the Department Secretary’s initiative to bolster the country’s devastated swine industry.

Sure to bring hope to affected hog raisers across the Philippines, the program’s acronym is just as encouraging.

“We call it the INSPIRE Program,” Medrano proudly declared. “It stands for Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) and is [thereby] focused on swine repopulation and rehabilitation for this very important sector in agriculture.”

Crafted under Medrano’s baton, Secretary Dar was quick to prioritize the ambitious but very urgent program and succeeded in finding the additional funds that have set the wheels in motion.

“We are now aggressively pushing the INSPIRE program in the entire country,”

Medrano enthused. “We hope that with INSPIRE we will succeed in reviving the swine industry in the next three to four years, and even see expansion in the fifth year given adequate resources, and of course, the support of the government because the DA cannot do it alone,” he furthered.

Once their agency gains headway in rehabilitating the swine industry, Medrano said they hope to return to another important goal of the DA which is to complete commodity industry roadmaps.

“I’m hoping we get to do this between September and October,” he noted. “Then we can proceed to do even more.”

Still on the bucket list of the DA official and champion of the livestock sector as he listed for The Sunday Times Magazine are: 1) To lobby and convince policy makers and the government to increase the budget for the national livestock program to create a bigger impact on the; 2) To see small hog raisers organized into clusters, through their cooperatives, so they may benefit from the government’s financial assistance as well; 3) To promote and implement the “clustering model” and do away with the practice of raising a few hogs in one’s backyard with cramped “housing” for the animals to avoid the spread future viruses; 4) To channel funding to organized hog raisers and enable them to build a safe, bio-secured housing facility for their cluster; 5) To successfully encourage businessmen to reinvest in the hog industry; and 6) To encourage commercial farms to expand operations continuously in order to contribute significantly to increased pork supply in the country.

Asked why he is so passionate in fulfilling all these goals for the industry, Undersecretary William Medrano simply replied, “Because our farmers, our fisher folk, our hog raisers—they are our heroes.

“Especially in this time of the pandemic, they continue to produce food and secure the supply for the entire nation. That is why we, at the Department of Agriculture salute them and commit to support them because it is what they do that sustains this nation.”