HOT MEAT. The confiscated 730 kilograms of assorted processed meat products from Manila shown at the Caticlan Port on April 24, 2021. The confiscated goods were burned after the supplier failed to reship back the items to their point of origin. (Photo courtesy of the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian-Aklan FB page)
ILOILO CITY – Aklan's intensified campaign against the African swine fever (ASF) resulted in the confiscation of more or less eight tons of pork products from August 2019 to December 2020, the Provincial Veterinary Office said on Tuesday.
Ma. Cyrosa Leen Mabel C. Siñel, the provincial veterinarian, said they established 24/7 quarantine checkpoints in four border areas of Aklan after ASF cases were reported in Luzon in August 2019.
The quarantine checkpoints were set up in the municipalities of Altavas, Nabas-Pandan, Buruanga-Libertad, and the Caticlan Jetty Port.
“In Region 6 (Western Visayas), we were the first to establish the quarantine checkpoints against ASF,” Siñel said in a phone interview.
The latest confiscation was the 730 kilograms of assorted processed meat products at the Caticlan Port early morning of April 24, 2021.
The goods from Parañaque, Manila were shipped via a roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) vessel and were supposed to be transported to Roxas City in Capiz. She said the items have been repacked ready for distribution.
The confiscated items were burned after their issued certificate of a reshipment of the products to Luzon was ignored and the supplier failed to show up.
The more or less eight tons of confiscated items were mostly from Chinese and Korean tourists bound for Boracay and who opted to bring with them products from their countries.
Siñel added that Aklan was in the process of crafting an ordinance to provide penalties for those trying to bring in pork products to the province from areas with ASF.
Engr. Remelyn R. Recoter, regional executive director of the Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas, said that they are happy with the immediate action of Aklan authorities.
Recoter said pork products from ASF-affected areas are not allowed to enter Western Visayas. (PNA)
