Guv mulls province-wide state of calamity as more ASF cases confirmed

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. on Thursday said the provincial government is considering declaring a state of calamity over the entire province, as more cases of the African Swine Fever (ASF) have been confirmed.

Defensor reiterated that he had tagged San Miguel town as a Red Zone, which effectively prohibits the entry and exit of swine, pork, and pork products there.

The provincial government has started collaborating with the municipal government for the cleansing and recovery of the town from ASF.

This was in addition to continued surveillance, monitoring, and depopulation efforts in the neighboring town of Oton, where the first ASF cases in the province were detected.

“In the meantime, in our Red Zone towns [Oton and San Miguel] pork products cannot enter and exit, so [they] will have to consume their own pork products,” the governor said in his regular press conference on Thursday.

Defensor also said that he met with Iloilo mayors on Tuesday to discuss the zoning system based on the Department of Agriculture’s Administrative Circular No. 02-2022.

The ASF zoning system under the said circular includes five color-coded zones: Red, Pink, Yellow, Light Green, and Dark Green.

Red Zones such as Oton and San Miguel are those that have confirmed ASF cases, while Pink Zones are buffer zones without ASF cases directly outside the red zones, including Pavia, Tigbauan, Cabatuan, Alimodian, Santa Barbara, Leon, and Iloilo City.

Yellow Zones are those directly outside the Pink Zones, and those directly outside Yellow are Light Green, and Dark Green Zones are those farthest from the Red Zone, without any proximity to Pink and Yellow Zones.

Defensor said that he may meet the Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) next week to determine recommending the declaration of a state of calamity.

This was due to initial doubts about the availability of funds to help affected farmers and other stakeholders.

The provincial government initially announced a P10,000 per farmer cash assistance as well as rice packs.

If the PDRRMC does decide on such declaration, a resolution will be forwarded to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to affirm the move, which will allow access to Quick Response Funds (QRF) or calamity funds that could augment the current assistance.

But right now, Defensor said that the provincial government has sufficient funds, and two options that are on the table are the state of calamity declaration, a request for a supplemental budget, or to wait for the 2023 provincial budget.

Provincial Veterinarian Darel Tabuada told media on Thursday that San Miguel recorded new ASF cases, this time in Brgy. 15 near the población, in addition to Brgy. San Jose where the first cases were confirmed.

San Miguel town mayor Marina Gorriceta confirmed to Daily Guardian on Friday that Brgy. 15 had 119 confirmed ASF cases, while Brgy. San Jose had more or less 500 cases.

She added that they have already depopulated up to 400 live hogs within the 1-kilometer radius of the index cases.

As to their own state of calamity, the mayor could not disclose how much they have in their QRF for ASF response, stating that they must revisit their ASF task force.