- GILBERT BAYORAN
The vigilance of the African swine fever task force personnel against the entry of ASF virus in Negros Occidental is paying off with the confiscation of P1.3 million worth of pork and related products from Cebu and Panay islands, from April 1 to 10, Provincial Veterinarian, Dr. Placeda Lemana, said.
Lemana reported that the 9.52 kilos of pork and 37,680 packs of processed food, with a market value of P1.2 million, intercepted at the northern Negros ports were shipped back to Cebu.
Negros Occidental and the highly-urbanized Bacolod City have permanently banned the entry of live pigs, boar semen, sows, piglets, and pork-related products from Cebu, Panay, and Guimaras islands due to the confirmed ASF cases in those areas.
Lemana also reported the confiscation and destruction of P100,246 worth of pork and processed foods, as well as lechon from Iloilo intercepted at the Bredco Port in Bacolod City.
The Bureau of Animal Industry earlier reported that Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental are among the 20 provinces in the country that remain free of the dreaded ASF, as of this time.
Despite the BAI report, the provincial government of Cebu extended until April 20, or for another 15 days, the temporary ban on the entry of hogs, piglets, boar semen, and pork related products from Negros Island.
Despite the extended ban, hog raisers in Negros Occidental managed to ship out 11,099 heads of live pigs to other areas of the country, especially to Metro Manila, from January to March this year.
Lemana, however, said the volume of shipment went down by 2,000 to 3,000 heads, compared to the same period last year.
What the hog raisers did was to convert them to processed foods, she said.
While prices of pork in Luzon can reach as high as P400 per kilo, she said that pork meat consumers in the province pay an average price of P280 per kilo./GB
