DISPOSED. Personnel of the joint African swine fever (ASF) task force in Bacolod City burn pork products from Iloilo Province seized in two seaports in the city on Nov. 11, 2022. The ban on pigs, pork, pork by-products, and other related items from the provinces of Iloilo, Antique, Capiz, Aklan, and Guimaras, started on Oct. 14, 2022 after the first case of ASF in Western Visayas was reported in Oton, Iloilo. (Photo courtesy of Bacolod City PIO)
BACOLOD CITY – About 402.55 kilos of banned pork meat and pork by-products from Iloilo Province, which has confirmed cases of African swine fever (ASF), have been seized in two ports here in the past week, data of the Negros Occidental Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) showed.
Dr. Placeda Lemana, acting provincial veterinarian, said on Wednesday there is a need to intensify the information campaign in areas in Iloilo as prohibited products continue to arrive in Negros Occidental even after a month that the ban was enforced.
“Out of the 402.55 kilos, we were able to ship back 298 kilos,” she added.
The items were part of the 422.55 kilos of banned products valued at PHP167,671, which were confiscated in various seaports and at the Bacolod-Silay Airport from Nov. 7 to 13.
Lemana said food items seized during the arrival of roll-on, roll-off vessels also included cooked pork dishes, processed meat products, and raw pork brought in by individual passengers.
“We are conducting a massive information dissemination since we need to protect our hog industry,” she added.
Negros Occidental, which has a PHP6-billion swine industry and is the country’s top backyard hog producer, is considered a green zone or ASF-free by the Department of Agriculture.
In Iloilo, the ASF infection has spread to five towns after the first case was confirmed last month, prompting Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson to ban the entry of all pigs, pork, pork by-products, and other related items from the provinces of Iloilo, Antique, Capiz, Aklan, and Guimaras, starting Oct. 14.
Lacson and Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez also issued a consolidated executive order creating a joint ASF task force to harmonize the policies of both the province and the city in prohibiting the entry of the sources of infection caused by ASF. (PNA)
