Iloilo City tightens measures vs. African swine fever

Livestock transport carriers and hog vans coming from areas affected by African swine fever (ASF) are prohibited from entering this city if they could not present their disinfection certificate from their point of origin or port of exit.

Executive Order No. 9, series of 2021, signed by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas on January 26 and released on Wednesday banned the entry of the said carriers if they came from Luzon, Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and other provinces with ASF if they have no certificate from the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“Iloilo City is a main entry/exit point of inter-regional conveyance through the Iloilo International Airport and Iloilo International Port in Loboc, Lapuz, Iloilo City having been identified as third in ranking in terms of ship calls at 11,853, fourth in cargo at 491,719 million metric tons, and fourth in passenger traffic at 2.4 million annually,” the order stated.

The mayor, as stated in the EO, said that there is an urgent need to intensify preventive measures to protect the hog industry in the region from the possible threat of ASF and its economic effects.

In an interview, Maricel Mabaquiao, head of the Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO), said the city has a task force anti-hot meat focused on monitoring products entering through the Roll-on, Roll-off (RoRo), and pork products sold in temporary market stalls (talipapa).

Meanwhile, local pork meat sold in various markets is also being monitored because they pass through the slaughterhouse.

Pork products that have been inspected have National Meat Inspection Certificate (NMIC) sticker.

“We have trained meat inspectors and they already know what to do,” she added.

In a previous interview, Department of Agriculture regional executive director Remelyn Recoter has urged the public to be vigilant to safeguard the region’s PHP20-billion hog industry. (PNA)