SAN JOSE, Antique – The Provincial Veterinary Office (ProVet) of this province is proposing to ban the entry of live pigs, pork, and other pork-based products from Mindanao for Antique to maintain its African swine fever-free status.
Dr. Marco Rafael D. Ardamil, head of the ProVet Public Health Division, said that he discovered during their meeting with the Department of Agriculture on Feb. 6 that the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Aklan have already declared the ban due to the reported cases of the swine fever in Don Marcelino, Davao recently.
“The provinces of Iloilo and Aklan initially declared a ban on the swine, pork, pork products, and its by-products last Feb. 5,” Marcelino said in an interview Friday. The province of Negros Occidental followed thereafter.
Ardamil said that another Executive Order is set to be signed by Governor Rhodora J. Chadio to spare the hog industry in the province from the swine fever.
To recall, Antique also banned the entry of the same products for the same reason from Luzon last year.
“The EO banning live swine, pork, and by-products from Luzon is still in effect until now,” he said.
The hog population in Antique is estimated to be at 73,000, and most of them are backyard-raised.(With a report from PNA/PN)
