BACOLOD City – Pork-based products worth P3.3 million, which entered Negros Occidental amid campaign against African swine fever (ASF), have been confiscated by authorities here until the second week of February.
Provincial veterinarian and task force co-chair Dr. Renante Decena, said on Friday the province continues to strictly enforce the Provincial Ordinance 2019-024 or the ASF Prevention Ordinance of Negros Occidental.
“Unlike other provinces, Negros Occidental has not only taken all sorts of preventive measures to safeguard the swine population within our territorial jurisdiction but is also resolute to continue the momentum of deployed manpower to prevent the entry of ASF,” he said.
Decena said the notable amount of confiscated products can be attributed to the deployment of highly-capable employees directly supervised by the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) in various ports of entry in the province.
The Provincial ASF Task Force has been implementing the ban on pork coming from Luzon since September last year. Last week, it also banned the entry of live pigs, pork, and pork-related food items from Mindanao.
A report of the PVO released on Thursday showed that seized from Sept. 10, 2019 to Feb. 9, 2020 were 54,131 pieces of assorted pork-related products, canned goods, fresh and processed pork meat. These products weighed about 11,370 kilograms.
The confiscated products are either sent back to their point of origin or destroyed within the airport or seaport’s vicinity.
The task force continues to intensify its campaigns as part of the provincial government’s efforts to keep Negros Occidental, which has a P6-billion hog industry, ASF-free.
“We are positioned as one of the gateways of livestock and meat products to Panay provinces and Luzon,” Decena said.
The implementation of heightened inspection and confiscation in point of entries has been strengthened by assigning personnel round-the-clock in these areas.
Entry points in Negros Occidental include seaports situated in cities of San Carlos, Escalante, Sagay, Cadiz, Victorias as well as in Bredco and Barangay Banago in Bacolod, and Pulupandan town, and the airport in Silay City.
Decena said the task force has been doubling efforts in conducting regular surveillance and profiling of swine disease situation in the province.
“We have reactivated our checkpoints in Kabankalan City and Hinoba-an town (in the south),” he added. (PNA)
