Negros Occidental, Bacolod ban pigs, pork items from Cebu

BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental and this capital city prohibited the entry of all pigs and pork products from the neighboring Cebu province, including Bantayan Island and Camotes Island, on Tuesday night.

The ban, provided in Joint Executive Order (EO) No. 1 signed by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, was enforced after the African swine fever (ASF) virus has been detected in Carcar City.

“Due to this recent development, it is highly imperative to protect the local hog industry of the province, being one of the leading producers of hogs in the country, against the serious threat of ASF,” the officials said in EO 1.

A test conducted on March 1 confirmed the detection of ASF in pigs in Carcar City, according to the report of the Bureau of Animal Industry-Animal Disease Diagnosis and Reference Laboratory (BAI-ADDRL).

Negros Occidental, which has a PHP6-billion hog industry, is listed as a dark green zone or ASF-free by the Department of Agriculture.

Aside from Cebu, the total ban on the entry of all live bigs, boar semen, pork, pork products and other pork-related items to Negros Occidental and Bacolod City includes the entire Luzon, Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Panay Island and Guimaras Island.

On Monday, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia ordered the ban on the entry of live hogs, sows, piglets, boar semen, pork, and pork-related products from Negros Island until April 5.

Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy, the provincial veterinarian of Cebu, said investigation showed the blood samples in Carcar City “were found to have come from pigs that (co-)mingled with other pigs from Negros while being kept in stockyards.”

However, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II here stressed that Negros Occidental is ASF-free.

“The evidence is in Carcar. It’s just like blaming others for your mistake. That is a fallacy for me. Unless and until the BAI and the DA issues a certification that Negros is indeed infected with ASF, there’s no reason for impairment or restriction of transportation of basic goods such as this. These are food products,” he told reporters.

Diaz said concerns have already been raised by hog raisers in Negros Occidental who have contracts to supply pigs to buyers in Tacloban City in Eastern Visayas, passing through the ports in Cebu.

“If that is going to be the case, Cebu should consider (the situation) since it involves food security of other provinces,” he added. (PNA)