By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The Negros Occidental provincial government issued a new executive order (EO) which imposes a total ban on hogs and pork byproducts from eight areas, including Bacolod City.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson signed EO 24-07 yesterday, which establishes guidelines for “the entry of all live pigs, boar semen, pork, products, and other pork-related food items from areas with reported cases of African swine fever [ASF] into the province.”
The EO bans the entry of hogs and pork products from Luzon, Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Panay Island, Guimaras Island, Cebu province including Camotes and Bantayan Islands, Negros Oriental, Bacolod, and countries affected by ASF as may be detected by the Department of Agriculture
The ban exempts fully-cooked processed pork products, such as ham, sausages, hotdogs, canned goods, pork chicharon, and pork-based seasonings, provided that they are sourced from meat establishments with a certificate of compliance from the ASF Public-Private Audit.
The entry of hogs and pork byproducts in ports, such as in Negros Occidental cities of San Carlos, Escalante and Cadiz, as well as the towns of E.B. Magalona and Pulupandan will be prohibited.
“All ports, under the supervision of the province, will strictly follow the no-entry zone for pork products coming from red zones,” Lacson said.
He further added that the provincial ASF task force assigned to Bredco and Banago ports in Bacolod will be removed.
The task force will ensure that pork products being delivered in Bacolod will remain in the city only.
Lacson said the reason for the new guidelines on pork-related products is the high pork prices in Bacolod.
“The intention is to bring down the price of pork here in Bacolod,” Lacson said.
Based on the monitoring by the Negros Occidental Provincial Veterinary Office as of February 20, the price of pork in Bacolod is at P410 per kilogram.
Meanwhile, pork being sold in the province is as low as P290 per kilogram.
Lacson said that since Bacolod was tagged as a “red zone,” the city can accept pork and pork byproducts from areas also tagged as “red zones.”
The governor said he remains hopeful that Negros Occidental will recover from the effects of ASF.
He said he wants the province to once again become the top backyard hog producer in the country, which is why strict protocols against ASF will still be observed.
Lacson said that enforcing the entry ban may be “a little difficult,” but they will remain vigilant.
He added that they have already started the hog sentinelling program in some areas of the province, and if successful, they will begin the full hog repopulation./DGB, WDJ