By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Around P1.3 million worth of pork and pork byproducts were blocked to prevent the entry of African swine fever (ASF) in Negros Occidental, the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) said yesterday.
Dr. Placeda Lemana, PVO head, said the pork shipment was among those intercepted at Bacolod City’s BREDCO Port during the observance of Holy Week.
These were either confiscated or returned to their place of origin as they lacked appropriate shipping documents.
Lemana said they have intercepted a total of 9.52 kilos of pork, and 37,680 processed pork items worth P1.2 million.
In one case, the PVO managed to confiscate a whole lechon (roasted pig) from the neighboring Panay Island which recorded cases of ASF.
Meanwhile, the confiscated 178.5 kilograms of pork worth P100,000 were destroyed through burning.
Negros Occidental, which remains ASF-free, has an ongoing entry ban on pork products from areas affected by the hog illness.
The province, with its own pork ban, includes Panay and Guimaras islands, Cebu, and some areas in Luzon, Mindanao, and Eastern Visayas which all have reported cases of ASF since 2019.
Raisers to sell more hogs amid Cebu pork ban extension
Negrenses will still sell live hogs in other areas as the pork ban imposed by neighboring Cebu province has been extended for another 15 days, or until April 20, as part of the measures to prevent ASF spread.
The ban prevents pork shipments from Negros Occidental bound for Leyte from no longer passing through Cebu.
This prompted sellers in Negros to ship out their products to Luzon and in other parts of Visayas last month.
Provincial administrator, Atty. Rayfrando Diaz II said they respect Cebu’s pork ban.
“There’s no problem with that. They have a market, they’re happy. They’re selling at a higher price to buyers in Manila,” Diaz said.
Negros Occidental has already exported 11,000 hogs from January to March of this year.
However, the PVO said the record is lower than the average number of pigs shipped out every month last year.
Since the Cebu pork ban started last month, 4,031 pigs have already been shipped out from Negros Occidental to Negros Oriental, Iloilo and Capiz, some areas in Luzon, particularly, in Bulacan, Rizal and Quezon province, and in the cities of Malabon and Caloocan in Metro Manila.
“Even if Cebu extended the ban, our raisers still have outlets. Those not shipped out are being processed into pork byproducts,” Lemana said./ With a report from PNA / DGB, WDJ