ON ALERT. Occidental Mindoro municipal authorities on Tuesday (Jan. 23, 2024) step up efforts to keep African swine fever (ASF) contained in the three towns already affected, one day after the outbreak was announced. Hog raisers in the province said that keeping pigs healthy, such as the ones seen in this undated photo, is necessary to keep their industry afloat. (PNA file photo)
MAMBURAO, Occidental Mindoro – Municipal authorities here have started setting up meat inspection checkpoints, among other quarantine measures within their jurisdictions, a day after Monday’s announcement by the provincial governor of an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.
In the provincial capital Mamburao, Mayor Angelina Tria signed an executive order (EO) activating a task force called “Bantay ASF sa Barangay” (BABay ASF), setting the stage for tighter scrutiny on pigs and pork being brought into town from elsewhere in the province.
The EO highlighted the need to protect Mamburao’s piggeries in view of industry estimates that ASF has resulted in a 36-percent reduction in the country’s swine inventory.
In an interview on Tuesday, municipal veterinarian Nathaniel Descanzo said a checkpoint was hurriedly set up in the national road connecting Mamburao to the three ASF-infected towns in the province.
He said only San Jose, Santa Cruz and Rizal towns have active ASF cases, and all their efforts are geared towards keeping the disease from migrating beyond those three municipalities.
“We had to move fast because Mamburao sits right next to Santa Cruz… there is an outbreak around two kilometers from our border. Right now, our municipal government has banned the entry of live pigs, raw pork and even processed pork from the towns infected with ASF,” he added.
Descanzo said his counterpart in Santa Cruz town has informed him that Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) specialists have arrived in ASF-infected sitios (neighborhoods), and are currently advising concerned officials and piggery owners on how to contain the disease.
Currently, the “depopulation” or culling of all hogs within a 500-meter radius of infected piggeries is also being undertaken by authorities, he added.
For his part, Michael Madriaga, director and manager of the Occidental Mindoro Hog Raisers Agriculture Cooperative (OMHRACO), urged the provincial government to prevent barangay authorities from imposing arbitrary “inspection charges” on live animals being shipped out of piggeries in areas unaffected by ASF.
He said there is no justification for imposing additional financial burden on hog farmers who are already suffering from lower-than-optimal farmgate prices arising from ASF jitters.
Madriaga disclosed that he has already reported to the provincial veterinarian how some barangay officials are charging a dubious PHP50 for every head being shipped out of piggeries.
“Our group is also appealing to all concerned to avoid exaggerating the extent of the ASF outbreak in Occidental Mindoro. Right now, we don’t know of any cases outside of the three towns,” he added.
Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Deogracias Victor Savellano said on Monday that his office is pushing for the enforcement of unified quarantine protocols throughout both provinces in Mindoro Island.
He said the DA is currently organizing a meeting between all concerned local government officials in Oriental and Occidental Mindoro to discuss mounting a singular approach against ASF. (PNA)
