Another public hearing scheduled for Tuesday

Following a public hearing attended by the Bacolod City Veterinary Office, City Agriculture Office, and representatives from the AVM Bernardo Slaughterhouse, City Councilor Wilson Gamboa, Jr. certified the city’s proposed anti-African swine fever ordinance as “urgent.” According to the city official, everybody present at the hearing agreed the proposal must be approved “at the soonest possible time.”
The ordinance seeks to ban the entry of pork and pork products into the city.
Gamboa also revealed, during the hearing, City Veterinarian Ma. Agueda Dela Torre recommended officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard, Department of Trade and Industry, and other related government agencies be part of the city’s task force against African swine fever.
He added, another public hearing will take place on Tuesday, January 21, with the agencies Dela Torre suggested, along with barangay officials.
Under the ordinance, the city’s anti-swine fever task force would be in charge of preventing the importation and sale of hogs and pork products from areas affected by African swine fever.
Earlier, city agriculturist, Atty. Goldwyn Nifras, who heads the city’s anti-African swine fever task force, recommended a ban on the importation of pork into the city amid ongoing concerns surrounding African swine fever./DGB, WDJ