ASF watch: Antique, Jordan tighten hog border controls

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The provincial government of Antique has tightened border controls to block the entry of live hogs and pork products as neighboring provinces report confirmed and suspected cases of African swine fever (ASF).

Gov. Paolo Javier has ordered strict enforcement of quarantine protocols at the province’s border checkpoints to keep out the highly contagious swine disease, which has resurfaced across parts of Western Visayas and the Negros Island Region (NIR).

“There are confirmed and suspected cases in our neighboring provinces in Region 6. We need to strictly guard our borders because we do not want ASF to spread again in our province. We have learned our lesson,” Javier said.

The Office of the Provincial Veterinarian said Antique has no confirmed or suspected ASF cases.

To keep the province free of the disease, veterinary inspectors have intensified monitoring at the Veterinary Control Border Stations in Barangay Fabrica, Hamtic; Barangay San Francisco, Anini-y; and Barangay Buhang, Pandan.

Provincial veterinarian Dr. Florencio Macuja said the province continues to prohibit the entry of live hogs, except those transported by the Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Training Institute for government programs.

Such animals are allowed in only after presenting individual negative ASF blood test results and securing a certificate of acceptance from provincial veterinary authorities, he said.

Processed pork products may still enter Antique if traders comply with documentary requirements, including a veterinary health certificate.

Macuja said Antique continues to allow the transport of live hogs and pork products to Iloilo.

Shipments to Capiz and Aklan, however, are prohibited following separate entry bans imposed by their respective local government units.

He urged backyard and commercial hog raisers to strengthen biosecurity measures to keep the virus from reaching local farms.

“Let us follow proper biosecurity measures and remain our best defense against ASF,” Macuja said.

These measures include restricting access to pig pens, installing secure fencing, and keeping animals such as dogs, cats, birds, and rodents out of hog facilities, as they may spread the disease.

ASF is a highly contagious viral disease that is almost always fatal to pigs but poses no risk to human health, leaving movement controls and farm biosecurity as the main defenses against it.

First detected in the Philippines in 2019, the disease had largely spared Western Visayas until the recent resurgence in neighboring provinces.

Meanwhile, the local government of Jordan in Guimaras has also tightened its defenses against ASF through an executive order issued by Mayor John Edward Gando on June 27.

Although Jordan has no confirmed or suspected ASF cases, the order imposes a temporary ban on the entry of live hogs, pork, and pork products from other municipalities unless authorized by the local government and accompanied by the required permits and veterinary certifications.

The order also prohibits the entry of hogs and pork products originating from areas with confirmed or suspected ASF cases.

Border control checkpoints will be jointly manned by the Jordan station of the Philippine National Police and the Public Safety and Traffic Management Unit to enforce the restrictions.

The executive order further limits the sale of fresh pork to the Rizal Public Market, Dr. Guardalino Mosqueda Terminal Market, and other authorized establishments with valid meat inspection certificates.

All live hogs entering the municipal slaughterhouse and auction market must likewise be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate issued by the Provincial Veterinary Office.

The Jordan order complements an earlier order issued by Guimaras Gov. Ma. Lucille Nava on June 26, which also imposed a temporary ban on the entry of hogs and pork products from areas classified by the Bureau of Animal Industry as red zones, or localities with confirmed ASF cases.

Antique’s measures add to a wave of entry bans and tighter checkpoints adopted across Western Visayas and Negros in recent weeks as local governments move to shield the region’s hog industry.