ILOILO – A total of P373,000 in financial assistance was released by the provincial government to 39 hog raisers affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF) in the town of Leganes.
The distribution was held at the Leganes Municipal Agriculture Office on Tuesday, Jan. 24, led by Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) head, Dr. Darel Tabuada, and Mayor Vicente “Junjun” Jaen.
The swine raisers were from nine ASF-affected barangays of MV Hechanova, Bigke, San Vicente, Nabitasan, Guinobatan, Lapayon, Cagamutan Sur, Gua-an, and Guihaman.
Hog raisers also received packs of vegetable seeds from the Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office 6.
Before Leganes town, 200 hog raisers from the 31 ASF-affected barangays of Oton town received a total of P1,745,000 in financial aid.
Based on an executive order of Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr., the amount of financial assistance would be based on the number of the recipients’ swine heads, whether sow, fattener, or young swine (except suckling), as follows:
* one to five hog heads – P7,000
* six to 10 hog heads – P10,000
* 11 to 15 hog heads – P15,000
* 16 to 20 hog heads – P20,00
* 21 to 25 hog heads – P25,000; and
* 26 hog heads and above – P30,000.
As part of the guidelines, the depopulation must be documented by the provincial/municipal/city ASF task force. In the grant of financial assistance to swine farmers, only one farm owner (individual/family/company/cooperative) per farm shall be recognized as a beneficiary.
Meanwhile, farms that conduct swine depopulation because of suspected or probable ASF cases but not under the supervision of the provincial/municipal/city ASF task force, shall not be qualified for financial assistance.
The financial aid to affected hog farmers will be taken from the approved P40 million supplemental budget of the province.
The list of beneficiaries will be based on the submissions of the respective local government units affected by ASF.
As of Jan. 24, 16 towns in Iloilo recorded ASF infections. Of these, 11 towns were red zones while five towns were pink zones.
Red zones are the following: Oton, San Miguel, Alimodian, Leganes, Santa Barbara, New Lucena, Mina, Janiuay, Dumangas, Barotac Nuevo, and Banate.
The five pink zones are Zarraga, Badiangan, Barotac Viejo, Dueñas, and San Dionisio./PN
