• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Bacolod City government will enforce strict border control and monitoring amid the reported cases of African swine fever (ASF) in several areas in Negros Occidental.
The highly-urbanized city will also impose a ban on imported pork and pork meat products to protect hog raisers, vendors, transporters, and consumers, who are part of the province’s billion-peso swine industry.
These measures were agreed on during the June 25 meeting of the ASF Task Force, led by Mayor Greg Gasataya, the city said.
Through an executive order to be issued by Gasataya, the city will intensify monitoring in 13 identified border control areas, including seaports, to strengthen surveillance and inspection.
“We have identified 13 areas where supplies could possibly pass through. We will also ban the entry of imported pork and pork meat products, particularly those without the necessary permits from concerned agencies,” Gasataya said.
Coordination among concerned agencies will be further strengthened to strictly monitor and prevent the entry and sale of hot meat, as well as pork and pork meat products lacking the required documentation from slaughterhouses and other regulatory offices.
To date, there are no confirmed cases of ASF in Bacolod. However, cases have been confirmed in several areas in Negros Occidental, like San Enrique, where Mayor Jilson Tubillara had said that about 500 pigs died as he confirmed the resurgence of the dreaded swine disease in the town.
San Enrique’s ASF status had been upgraded to pink, or buffer zone, from red, or infected, since May 5, 2025, per the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI).
Bago City, which borders Bacolod, said the first reported deaths due to suspected ASF were logged in Barangay Pacol in the second week of this month.
Mayor Mayette Javellana already signed an EO reactivating the City Government of Bago Task Force on ASF, while mass disinfection will be conducted first week of July in affected barangays of Pacol, Caridad, and Napoles, per the city PIO.
The DA-BAI Veterinary Quarantine Services in Western Visayas, meanwhile, said June 25 that the province of Aklan has temporarily banned the entry, transport, sale, and distribution of live swine, pork, pork products and by-products, swine semen, embryos, and other swine-derived commodities if coming from or passing through the Negros Island Region, among other areas.
The province of Capiz also prohibits the entry of live pigs, pork, pork products and by-products, hog carriers and transport vehicles, as well as trading activities involving hog traders originating from or passing through ASF-positive or suspected areas, particularly Negros and Iloilo. | CGC
