BACOLOD City – Task Force Botagoy (TFB) is encouraging residents of this city to eat fish instead of meat following the confirmed cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Oton, Iloilo.
Just to be safe, “we must avoid eating pork meat or products made from pork. It is better to eat fish nowadays,” Martin Denaga, team leader of the TFB, said.
The TFB, being a member of the Task Force ASF in the province of Negros Occidental, is strictly monitoring pork meat and pork by-products from outside of the province.
Denaga said as the province prohibits pigs, pork and pork by-products from the Panay and Guimaras islands, the city also did the same.
TFB is confiscating pork by-products from outside of the province, like frozen foods and canned goods.
Denaga advised meat vendors, particularly in three major public markets of this city, to have their swine slaughtered at the AVM Bernardo Slaughterhouse and have their permits secured to avoid confiscation of their meats.
On Friday, Oct. 14, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson issued two memorandums ordering a ban on the entry of pork and pork by-products from Panay and Guimaras.
This comes after the town of Oton in Iloilo reported the first case of ASF.
As Lacson pointed out, ASF poses a great threat to Negros Occidental as one of the top backyard hog producers in the country, with an industry pegged at more than P6 billion./PN
