ANTIQUE – The Provincial Veterinary (ProVet) Office is calling for the residents’ cooperation in keeping the province free from the African Swine Fever (ASF) that is spreading in the nearby province of Iloilo.
Dr. Marco Rafael Ardamil, chief of the ProVet Public Health Division, urged everyone to stop bringing in processed or any pork-based food products from Iloilo or other places affected by ASF.
“It seems we keep on confiscating or turning away delivery vans bringing prohibited food items,” he lamented.
Gov. Rhodora Cadiao, on Oct. 18, issued a directive that prohibited the entry into the province for whatever purpose or trading of any pig, boar semen, pork and pork products including food items containing pork.
Ardamil said checkpoints in the southern and northern borders of Antique already resumed after they were temporarily halted during the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng” in the last week of October.
Meanwhile, livestock and poultry raisers in the province underwent training on meat processing with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Oct. 28 and 29.
“We are now in the process of perfecting our processed food tocino and embutido,” said Elma Peña, Sibalom Livestock and Poultry-Raisers Association (SILPRA) president.
She said that they are venturing into food processing as an alternative livelihood in case live-weight animal will no longer be allowed to be shipped outside the province. (PNA)/PN
