By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson will hold consultations with the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) after the recent signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Negros Oriental and Cebu provincial governments on hog trade.

Lacson said Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and Negros Oriental Governor Manuel Sagarbarria discussed the lifting of a hog ban that would allow the distribution and sale of pork products between the two provinces.

In April, Garcia issued an executive order banning the entry of live hogs after cases of African swine fever were detected on a hog shipment from Negros.

Lacson said Garcia has already responded to his previous letter over the Cebu government’s temporary ban on pork products from Negros Occidental.

However, a final agreement has not yet been reached between the two governors.

Lacson believes that if Negros Oriental and Cebu agreed to open up their borders, Negros Occidental would also do the same.

Meanwhile, the governor emphasized that the province is adhering to the biosecurity protocols imposed by the Bureau of Animal Industry, which resulted in a decline in daily swine mortalities.

Latest PVO data showed the province has experienced a 10.19 percent loss in the hog population, with damage reaching more than P174 million./DGB, WDJ