P4M aid to hog raisers readied as NegOcc LGUs start to order bans

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Two local government units in Negros Occidental have banned the entry of live hogs and other related products after African Swine Fever (ASF) cases were detected in Bacolod City and Pulupandan town.

Mayors Renato Gustilo of San Carlos City and Ella Celestina Garcia Yulo of Moises Padilla town issued executive orders banning the entry of live pigs, boar semen, pork, and related products from ASF and hog cholera-affected areas.

The ban also covers products that lack the necessary travel and shipping documents.

On Friday, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said that the provincial government is readying cash assistance to hog raisers whose hogs were affected by hog cholera.

“We are considering to allocate from the Department of Social Welfare and Development through the Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situation an amount of  P2,000 per household or a total of P4 million pesos,” Lacson said.

“We will have to reassess and determine kon sin o ang angay tagaan with that budget. I am afraid indi tanan matagaan.”

Lacson made the statement after the second quarterly meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order Council and the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council.

He said LGUs can also give out assistance adding that what the province is giving is just like an augmentation.

Lacson also pointed out that even without the declaration of the ASF case in Pulupandan town “we are already following DA BAI (Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry) protocols.”

“We have not declared anything yet, in Pulupandan you must remember there were only four samples and only 1 is positive.”

Lacson also said that Pulupandan  Mayor Miguel Peña has already ordered the culling of the hogs within the 500-meter radius of the site where the suspected ASF cases were located.

“So we are following the protocols and we really are trying to slow down the hog mortality,” he added.

Meanwhile, the local government units of Bago City and San Enrique in Negros Occidental are extending cash assistance to hog raisers affected by swine diseases.

San Enrique Mayor Jilson Tubillara said that the municipal government will extend P3,000 to P5,000 financial assistance to each hog raiser in San Enrique, where 2,253 of its 2,692 hog population, which is equivalent to  83.69 percent, died from hog cholera and other diseases, based on the report of the Provincial Veterinary Office.

Tubillara, however, maintained that San Enrique remains ASF-free, as 27 of the blood samples taken from hogs in the town yielded negative results.

The giving of cash aid to affected hog raisers, especially those raising swine in their backyards estimated at 600, was decided during a meeting with members of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Mayor Nicholas Yulo also said that the Bago City government will also extend financial assistance to hog raisers, with amounts ranging from P1,000 to P2,000 per dead swine.

A total of 1,178 hogs also died in Bago City, which is 5.58 percent of its 20,836 swine population, PVO records further showed.

The first two ASF cases were detected Friday last week in Brgy. Taculing, Bacolod City followed by the discovery of another ASF infection in Brgy. Mabini, Pulupandan.

Pig deaths in 14 localities in the province totaled 8,849 with the accumulated losses amounting to P102,546,775.