‘PIG CULTURE’. A photo shows a ‘mambunong’ (native priest) saying a prayer while a pig waits to be butchered. One or several pigs are butchered to celebrate, commemorate something or as an offering. (PNA file photo by Liza T. Agoot)
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet-- The livelihood of more than 16,000 hog raisers in Benguet will be secured if the ban on the entry of hogs and pork-meat products will be sustained, the provincial veterinary office said on Wednesday.
“We have 16,000 plus raiser households. They should be protected,” said Dr. Miriam Tiongan, provincial veterinarian of Benguet.
She said once the African swine fever (ASF) enters the province, it will mean so much to the backyard hog raisers in the 13 towns of Benguet.
“Our backyard raisers grow hogs to sustain the education of their children. Their income from the sale of one pig means payment for the tuition or payment for the money borrowed to pay for the tuition of the children,” Tiongan said.
Hog growing in Benguet is also an additional income for the thousands of farmers with unstable means of income.
“It is where they get subsistence if they lose on vegetable production damaged by the rains. But we hope for the best that is why we are heightening the quarantine with the help of everybody,” Tiongan said in the Ilocano dialect.
To date, Benguet remains ASF-free but the provincial government, as well as the various stakeholders, is doing massive information drive for all sectors, as a preventive measure against its possible entry.
Tiongan said the pig is part of the culture of Benguet as residents butcher one or several to celebrate, to commemorate the passing of a loved one or when a family member is not feeling well, and when one had a bad dream or simply to feed several people in a gathering or meeting.
“It is an important part of our daily lives as Benguet people that is why several of our people are into backyard production because they know that it is a commodity in the province and there will always be buyers of pigs,” he said.
Several petitions supporting Executive Order (EO) 42-2019 of Governor Melchor Diclas on Oct. 24 for the ban on the entry of hogs and pork products in the province were submitted to the provincial government.
The EO bans the entry of hogs and pork products from the towns of Mapandan, San Jacinto, Mangaldan, Sta. Barbara, Manaoag, Laoac, Alcala, Bautista, Malasiqui, Basista, San Carlos City, Urbiztondo, Mangatarem, Urdaneta, Dagupan Calasiao, Bayambang, San Fabian and Pozzorubio.
These areas are located within the 10-kilometer radius of the town of Bayambang where the outbreak has been recorded.
Also included within the 10-kilometer radius are the six towns in Tarlac province - Concepcion, Capaz, Bamban, Camiling, San Clemente and Moncada,
The EO said only towns outside these municipalities or beyond the 10-kilometer radius are allowed to pass the highways leading to Benguet if they are covered by certifications from government agencies and if they are intended for Baguio City only.
Meanwhile, the provincial government provides livelihood assistance to the residents in the form of cash given on zero loans or in-kind in the form of piglets.
Tiongan said residents’ common request under the livelihood assistance development program is for swine raising because they can sell the mature pigs in just six months with a higher gain.
An average of PHP8 million is allotted by the provincial governor’s office for the livelihood of the people, which amounts mostly go to swine raising.
"The governor is very supportive to protect the livelihood of the townmates in Benguet because even if they just grow two or three pigs their income helps the family a lot. The governor’s stand is also true because he knows ASF has no cure and there is no vaccine to protect animals from its infection,” Tiongan said.
Earlier, Diclas advised his constituents not to do swill-feeding as one of the preventive measures against ASF. (PNA)
