MANILA -- The Marikina City government on Friday will go after those responsible for the improper disposal of pig carcasses which were found floating at the Marikina River.
Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said there is neither a piggery nor a slaughterhouse in the city.
"Para hindi na maulit, dapat ay may managot. Dapat proper disposal. Hindi puwedeng walang mananagot, dapat may managot (So that this incident will not happen again. Those responsible for this should be held liable. I cannot allow that they will just get away with it. There should be proper disposal so that there will be no possible contamination," Teodoro said in a message to reporters.
Backyard piggeries are prohibited in Marikina since 2003.
As of 3 p.m. Friday, the city's Public Information Office (PIO) reported that 55 pig carcasses were recovered from the river.
Per advice of the Department of Agriculture, the city's Veterinary Services Office (VSO) immediately retrieved and buried the carcasses 10 feet below the ground to ensure that possible diseases from these dead animals will not spread.
Teodoro said the last carcass was retrieved on Friday around 11 a.m. in Barangay Nangka, which was not yet bloated.
“I ordered to hold it in order to for it to get tested to determine if it died because of African Swine Flu (ASF),” he said.
Teodoro also ordered to reactivate the quarantine checkpoints in the city to prevent the entry and spread of pig diseases affecting some provinces in the country.
The city government has also prohibited fishing and any water-related activities at the Marikina River as it is now being checked for possible contamination.
Teodoro, meanwhile, said that he ordered a search party, both in water and land, to trace where the pig carcasses came from.
"May pinadala ang netizens na photos, na mababaw ang pagkakalibing ng mga patay na baboy, noong umulan inanod dito (Some netizens sent photos showing that the pigs were buried in a shallow grave. When rains poured, they were washed out into the river)," he said.
Meanwhile, Marikina VSO chief, Dr. Manuel Carlos, said he has already coordinated with the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), to get blood samples from the carcass.
“Pupunta yung teams ng BAI para kumuha ng sample sa baboy para malaman kung ano ang cause of death, including na doon ang (BAI teams will come to get a sample from the pig to know its cause of death, including whether it died due to) ASF,” he said.
The VSO chief said it will take several days before the test results are out.
While it is not harmful to humans, the ASF can wipe out an entire swine population.
“ASF is highly contagious sa kapwa baboy, hindi sa tao (to fellow pigs). It is non-zoonotic, meaning hindi ito transmittable sa tao kundi sa baboy sa baboy (but from one pig to another pig). (It has) 100 percent mortality (rate). It can greatly affect the economy, (especially the swine industry),” he noted. (PNA)
