SAN JOSE, Antique – In a bid to protect the province’s hog industry from the African swine fever, Gov. Rhodora Cadiao has issued an executive order banning the entry of live pigs, pork and other pork-based from Mindanao.
Cadiao said through her Executive Order 22, there will be no swine or pork from Mindanao that would be transported in Antique.
According Cadiao, hog growers in this province are only allowed to sell live pigs, pork and other pork-based products to places outside of Antique, but not to acquire them from Mindanao.
“Our swine is ASF-free,” she claimed.
Cadiao has formed a technical working group to ensure that the province remains ASF free and that the ban is implemented.
Meanwhile, the ban for the entry of pork from Luzon and its by-products remain in effect.
The livestock and poultry handler licenses of commercial hog growers are now being verified at different police checkpoints in this region as a precautionary measure against ASF.
For his part, Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Romeo Magdato said hog growers in this province reported an income of P25.614 million for orders that were received mostly from the provinces of Iloilo and Aklan since January this year.
“With the ban from Luzon and Mindanao, there were many orders for Antique’s swine because it is free from ASF,” he said.
He added that some 2,846 swine, mostly five to six months old and with an average weight of 85 to 90 kilograms, are also being bought up to P100 per kilogram (liveweight) in order to be processed as pork products like tocino and chorizo.(With a report from PNA/PN)
