(PNA file photo by John Rey Saavedra)
CEBU CITY – The top legal officer in Cebu province on Tuesday underscored the need for a collaborative effort in addressing the African swine fever (ASF) that has now stricken six localities in the province, including this capital city.
Donato Villa, provincial legal officer, said Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia has welcomed the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) move to support the localized protocol against ASF that has infected backyard hog raisers in Carcar City.
Villa said the province expected the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to also coordinate with the “people on the ground” to get a wider perspective on the extent of the highly contagious and deadly viral disease affecting both domestic and feral swine of all ages.
“Supposedly, we can expect them to work with the people on the ground. It’s the municipalities who are familiar with the situations on the ground,” Villa told the Philippine News Agency in a phone interview.
Villa said the BAI should be specific in its announcement of which barangays in those localities have tested positive for ASF.
In a separate statement, Villa said Cebu will proceed with its plan to formulate its own protocol despite the BAI’s statement on Monday that it will implement a zoning map here after the agency announced that five more localities -- Cebu City, Liloan, Sibonga, Tuburan and Bogo City -- recorded cases of the ASF.
Last week, Garcia said the province will craft its own evidence-based approach to combat the ASF, tapping a private laboratory provider in holding real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for the pigs in the province.
The agency, he said, “has not gone through consultation with the LGUs and the Province of Cebu” in line with the provisions in the Local Government Code.
He added that the law obliges national agencies to consult with and get the LGUs’ involvement in the planning and implementing of any program or policy in the province.
Carcar City Mayor Patricio Barcenas said he will abide by the provincial government’s approach in addressing the ASF in his locality, noting that almost 600 hogs in in Barangay Guadalupe were about to be culled but were eventually saved by Garcia’s memorandum.
Only a total of 141 hogs, within the 500-meter radius from the slaughterhouse where the first ASF was detected, were allegedly from Negros Oriental.
Mayor Michael Rama, who is attending an official function in Manila, told reporters he will issue a new order on Wednesday to address ASF affecting Cebu City barangays. (PNA)
